


I'll keep these crooked ways

by dwarrowkings



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Android corpses, Bathing/Washing, Canon-Typical Violence, Chapter 2 has updated warnings, Clothes Shopping, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Has a Penis, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Siblings, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Gavin Reed is a Little Shit, Gavins not all bad!, Gay Disaster Gavin Reed, Getting Together, Graphic Description of Corpses, M/M, Minor Character Death, Morning Cuddles, Morning Sex, Nines gets injured, Oral Sex, POV Gavin Reed, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Canon, Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Pre-Poly, Pre-Relationship, Reverse Felching, Shower Sex, Spitroasting, Suicide, Threesome - M/M/M, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has Feelings, Upgraded Connor | RK900 and Gavin Reed are Police Partners, Upgraded Connor | RK900 is called Nines, but androids are people so: corpses, but gavin helps fix him, chapter 2: graphic depictions of 1 suicide, i would say slowburn but it's less than 30k so far so that's like not that slow i don't think, it's and android but also: androids are people, shopping as therapy, they're siblings on the DL y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26709937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwarrowkings/pseuds/dwarrowkings
Summary: Chapters 1-3 are rated M for mature themes and canon-typical violence / depictions of gore. Chapter 4 is rated E for smut. Please see updated tags!Please see warnings for Ch 2 in the notes.A fic featuring soft and sweet interactions between Gavin, Connor, and Nines, with canon-typical descriptions of android injuries. Just some sweet sweet fluff that accidentally grew a really convoluted plot.I just really wanted a fic where Gavin was smart! Just as smart and important to the invention of androids as Elijah. Sometimes you just have to write it to make it exist. I hope you enjoy!
Relationships: Connor/Gavin Reed, Connor/Upgraded Connor | RK900, Connor/Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 27
Kudos: 121





	1. Shame on me to be so damn radioactive and ruin the flavor

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a lot of firsts for me! My first multi-chapter work, my longest work, my first WIP. This is like 90% finished, so don't worry! I will update tags when I post new chapters. The first chapter is January and February of the first year after the revolution. Gavin gets a partner; RK900 gets a name. Mysteriously shut down androids get found. Gavin and Nines go shopping!
> 
> Title & Chapter title from SLO by Des Rocs. 
> 
> This fic has a playlist on Spotify [ here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6sWyXb9n6cehtNwvaAdEHl?si=hHxINZ5iRv-BxsUMfu82nA).

(January 5)  
The pinnacle of CyberLife’s foray into the military industrial complex gently sets a mug of coffee next to Gavin’s hand. Instead of looking at the RK900, he keeps his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him, deliberately focusing on the casefile that Fowler had apparently decided that he needed help with. Connor’s younger, jacked up brother lingers at his desk while Gavin ignores him. Great. Just fuckin’ great.

“You didn’t have to do that.” His voice is petulant. It’s one of the traits he never grew out of as a teen. He’s got that and a truly awful sleep schedule. 

“You asked me to.” The android says, after a beat, obviously processing. His voice doesn’t sound concerned or confused. Just flat. He sounds like Connor, if Connor were dead inside. It makes that old anger simmer anew in Gavin’s gut. He ignores it for now. 

“It was sarcasm.” It was not. It was mostly a ploy so he’d be left alone. He doesn’t particularly want to spend his time with one of Amanda’s pet projects. She’s been dead for years, but the RK series stinks of her for-profit model. Turning androids into cannon fodder had almost made human soldiers obsolete in the process. She’d revolutionized war, almost overnight. Dropped the casualties to almost zero, if you didn’t count androids or the other side. Gavin, damn him, counted both.

“I am aware of that, Detective.” There’s a dry sort of humor to that. Maybe there’s someone hiding under that flat exterior. “I thought if I met your sarcasm with earnestness, you would be embarrassed and discontinue your standoffish behavior.”

“How diplomatic of you.” Gavin rolls his eyes. He can feel his mouth tug itself into a crooked, smug, half-smile. Maybe RK900 will be able to see it in the reflection of his screen. “You know that isn’t going to work, right?” 

“Yes. Connor told me that you were an asshole and that I should not waste my time. I prefer to draw my own conclusions.” Gavin’s gut twists but it’s hard to pin down whether he’s pleased or embarassed by the assessment. He's intensely aware of the RK900's gaze on him. He holds still for a moment, then turns to look at him. 

“And?” He raises his eyebrows, showing his interest in this development. They’d said that the RK900 hadn’t deviated yet, even though Connor had tried when he’d first been activated. A lot of personality for a machine, despite the CyberLife branded clothing he’s still wearing. That high turtleneck has got to be a bitch. 

Maybe he's like those first few, before Amanda got her stink all over Eli. 

“Inconclusive. I will need to gather more data.” Awareness zings across Gavin’s skin, but he turns back to his monitor without responding. “I’m looking forward to our partnership, Detective Reed.” The android reaches out and traces his fingers delicately over the rim of the mug he’d set down. It’s an odd thing to do, especially for a machine. 

Gavin ignores it. They have work to do.  
\--  
(January 7)  
“Please tell me you have a name already.” Gavin says, at 8 am on the third day. There’s a cup of fresh coffee from the coffee shop around the corner in his hand, which is the only thing keeping him from murdering everyone in the station, including himself. “Calling you RK900 is getting old.”

“I do, Detective.” Thank goodness. Gavin takes a fortifying sip. “Hank and Connor bet on how long it would take you to ask. Hank was sure you never would. Connor thought you would break the first day.” Huh, that’s a weird bit of faith that Connor has in him. Gavin files it away for later.

“Oh, ye of little faith,” Gavin yells in Hank and Connor’s direction, even though it makes his head pound harder. He gets a middle finger from Hank in response, even though he’s certain that Hank’’s got no clue what Gavin's yelling about. Connor doesn’t even acknowledge that Gavin said anything. Good to know where you stood with your coworkers. Friendly hostility verging on real hostility. An improvement. 

“Well?” He gestures with his mug, fingers curled firmly around the side, warming his fingers. He does lift his index finger to point vaguely in the android’s direction. He’s still wearing his CyberLife uniform, which kind of annoys Gavin.

“‘Well?’ what, Detective?” and there was that deadpan tone again. Like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. The melting point of butter is higher than the typical temperature of an Androids mouth, so it probably wouldn’t.

“Am I allowed to know your name, then? Since you already have one?” So far, talking to him was half pulling teeth and half fun as hell. 

“No. I do not believe that you have earned it.” Who would have ever guessed that Gavin Reed would get razzed by an android and enjoy it. Certainly not Connor. Hank probably would think it was karmic retribution. Dumbass millennial. 

“Ok, cool. You have fun with that.” The soft way his mouth opens makes it obvious that this flat acceptance is not what the Android expected. 

"You're not going to wheedle it out of me?" He asks, seeming kind of lost. Gavin tries and fails not to look smug. His head pounds.

“Would that really be me earning it? If I just annoy you until you tell me? I can and will find a nickname for you that we both don't hate until you decide that I'm good enough or whatever." This seems to surprise the RK900 even more. "So, what did you win?" 

"Pardon?" 

"You and Hank and Connor bet about me asking for a name, but you never said what your horse was. That tells me that you won. So, what'd you win?" He doesn't really care about the answer, but it's better than focusing on the pounding in his skull. In 20 minutes the ibuprofen will kick in and Gavin will be able to focus on something a little more stimulating than asking the only known RK900 for his name.

“Nothing.” Interesting. Gavin can feel the pressure in the back of his neck increase a little. He braces the side of his chin against his chin and twists his head. A satisfying crack later and his headache eases somewhat. In about 19 minutes, this day will be better than any so far this week. "I did not participate in the wager." 

"Only way to win a losing game is not to play, huh? Typical machine. No fun at all." He sits the coffee mug down and logs into his work terminal. He can answer some emails while he waits for his brain to be ready for the day.

“Connor was right, Detective Reed. You are an asshole.” It’s probably meant to be snide, but Gavin is thicker skinned than that. He wears attitude on his sleeve, draws it around him like armor. The only he’s had, some days.

“Better call the presses.” 

“I do not think that it warrants media coverage.” And if Gavin had to guess, he’d say that the android is hiding a smile. His shoulders are tilted the same way he’s seen Connor lift half his mouth to smile at Hank. “Connor was only half right.” 

“Oh yeah?” He’s intrigued, damn him. 

“I do not think you are a waste of my time.” Gavin is glad that his screen blocks most of the RK900’s view of his face right now, because he’s not sure he could wipe the look of pleased surprise off it.  
\--  
(January 19)

Two weeks into their partnership, a body washes up onto the banks of Belle Isle. It gets foisted on them out of jurisdiction because it’s an android murder case. Or, at least, it’s a dead android case.

The investigative team over there couldn’t find any identifying information on the android. There's a serial number, but no registered owner. There are replacement parts, but none that can be traced to a specific repair shop.

It looks like it should be in perfect working order. It's hard to tell how long it's been in the water, but it shouldn't be too hard to get some information off of it.

There's a concerned look on RK900's face that doesn't go away when he pulls his hand away. He shakes it a little - like one would a sleeping limb, but after a second he seems fine. 

"You get anything useful?" Gavin is hoping that RK900 would be able to access the recent memory files to find out what happened. 

"No." 

"Ok, but what about -" Gavin starts. Anything, technically could be useful. 

"I said," RK900 says, his voice clipped and cold, "that I did not get anything." 

"Ok, jeez." Defensive much? "Wait, what do you mean nothing? Like nothing at all?" 

"Detective Reed, there were no memory files on this Android that I was able to access. In addition, I could find no reason why that would be the case. Despite the fact that this Android has sustained no damage, there was no response when I attempted to interface. It's empty. Like a shell." 

"So, it's … what? Been erased?" That… shouldn't technically be possible, should it?

"I cannot speculate upon the circumstances of what happened to cause it, but yes. That seems to be an accurate assessment." 

"I thought that was impossible." 

"It was previously thought to be, yes. Androids have multiple, localized processing centers that work together to ensure that they are able to perform the tasks they were designed to do, in the most efficient manner. When not in immediate use, those files are stored in larger memory banks closer to the core of the body. That means that even if the main memory center is damaged, there should still be some information available in short term memory in the localized processing centers. This Android's memory was empty - no files, no data. Not even a backup interface system. I had to initiate a search like I would on a hard drive that had no sentience. And the drives on this android were empty." 

"What the fuck?" 

RK900 looks at Gavin for the first time since he touched the Android. "My assessment exactly, Detective." 

"So, what… I guess we process it like we would a human murder? Did you find anything on the body that would be helpful?" 

"No. Trace evidence was washed away by the water and there's no damage to determine what the cause of death was."

"Huh. Should we send it to CyberLife for… research?" 

"I believe so. I've gathered all the relevant evidence I could."

"Great." RK900 looks at him like he finally understands sarcasm. Progress somewhere at least.

\--

(February 14)

Gavin stares at the pink heart on his desk. A Valentines’ Day card. He hasn’t gotten one of those since…. Oh, elementary school at least. It’s made out of construction paper and glitter; it’s seriously fucking him up. What is this supposed to be? A threat? It’s working.

He looks up at RK900, back down at the perfectly executed heart, the perfect handwriting, the expertly applied glitter, and then back up at the android, looking innocently at the screen in front of him.

"RK900" Gavin says. The Android ignores him. There’s a single speck of pink glitter on his white jacket sleeve. It catches as he types. Why is he typing? Can’t he just like, touch the screen and think what he wants to write? "RK900," he sing-songs. "Rk. 900. Rk9, Arcanine oh my god, Arcanine." He stares at his desk, eyes wide for a second. How did he never think of that? It isn’t right, though, so he moves on.

"Detective Reed." The RK900's voice is long suffering, even though it’s ostensibly devoid of emotion. They really hadn’t given much breadth to the RK900 line’s voice. Connor had gotten all that range and 900 had gotten nothing. It wasn’t fair.

"9!" Gavin exclaims. Sue him, he’s trying things out.

"10" RK900 deadpans. 

"No, 9. 9. nine ninety nine nines." Nines. He likes that. He rolls it around his brain and it sticks in all the places that matters. 

"You are very tired, Gavin." Gavin is. He should go home. He opens the app on his phone and calls for a cab. No driving tonight, it’s too much. He runs his fingers over the edge of the Valentines Day card. He’s oddly touched. 

“Nines." 

"Is that going to be my name now?” He asks. 

“Do you want it to be?” Gavin asks. He’s not gonna force a nickname on someone if they hate it. Probably. 

“It’s fine,” Nines says. 

“You made me a Valentines Day card.” Gavin says after an awkward pause. 

“Connor dared me to.” Gavin gets the impression that if Nines could blush, he would be. He doesn't know if it’s the name thing or the Valentine’s Card.  
“Makes so much sense.” Gavin says, even though it doesn’t make any at all. His phone chimes. “Oop cab’s here. Nighty night, Nines.” Gavin grins and grabs his stuff. He trudges out to the cab and only later realizes that he’s picked up the card. It sheds glitter in his duffel bag. Worth it.  
\--

He hangs it on his fridge.

\--  
(February 16)

The day hadn’t been horrible so much as taxing. Gavin needed something, anything he could put in the win column. Nine’s dour face looking at him over their desks, hemmed in by the collar of that damn jacket was going to drive him insane. 

Gavin checks the clock. 6:58. Great, he can leave without too much fuss before his shift is over in half an hour. 

“So,” Gavin says, grabbing his keys out of his desk. “What do you do when you’re not at work, Nines?” He feels bad that he hasn’t asked before, now that he wants something. He feels bad that it hadn’t occurred to him until now, when he wants something from Nines. 

“Detective?” Nines says. His voice barely lilts up to make it a question. 

“You know, after I leave work and you, presumably, do too. What do you do?” Gavin jingles his keys in his hands. He puts the ring over his finger and twirls them. One time, two, then three. They fly off his finger and land on the desk. He reaches over to pick them up and does the same thing again, except instead of throwing them across the desk, he catches them in his hand first. 

“Connor and Hank are very accommodating with their home,” Nines says, oddly formal. There’s something there, but Gavin doesn’t have the patience to deal with that right now. 

“You got a closet?” If he had gum in his mouth, he’d be blowing bubbles and popping them with his teeth. He taps the heel of his shoe on the ground. 

“You seem out of sorts, Detective, are you all right?” His face and voice haven’t changed at all but somehow Gavin knows that there’s real concern behind them, which fucks Gavin up a little.

“Do you or do you not have a place to store clothes?” Gavin scrunches his eyes closed and tries to quell the vibration happening under his skin. 

“I have my locker here,” Nines starts. Gavin makes a noise of frustration. He can feel his eye twitch. “In addition, I have a portion of the spare closet in Hank’s house and a small dresser for some personal belongings.” 

“Okay, so if you have this space to store stuff, why do you wear your CyberLife uniform to work every day?” Gavin can tell that if Nines is caught off guard. He doesn’t answer the question right away so Gavin sighs and almost calls the whole thing off. 

“My preferred clothing is hardly work appropriate.” Nines lifts one shoulder. “So I wear this. It is simpler.”

“Don’t you want, like, other clothes?” Gavin can lift his shoulders too, but this time it’s a question instead of Nines giving up. 

“These are perfectly serviceable.” Nines says, obviously defensive even though his tone of voice hasn’t really changed. 

“Perfectly serviceable isn’t good enough. Come on.” He twirls his keys one more time, decisively and catches them in his hand. He turns towards the exit and doesn't look back to see if Nines is following. 

He can feel Nines following along, silent but somehow still loud with questions. 

When he gets to his car, he unlocks it and slides into the driver’s seat. Nines situates himself in the passenger seat. Gavin fiddles a little with the music, trying to find something upbeat enough to keep him from dipping. 

“What’s your favorite color?” Gavin asks. This will be easier with the preliminary questions out of the way. 

“I do not have one,” Nines says. Gavin sighs and tightens his hands on the wheel. 

“Do you have a palette preference? Anything I can work off?” Nines turns to look at Gavin. His eyebrows scrunched together and a little raised. Gavin can tell out of the corner of his eye that his shoulders are set, like he doesn’t quite know whether to settle or be on edge enough to run at a moment’s notice. 

“I’m afraid I still don’t understand, Detective Reed.” Nines sounds so much like Connor sometimes and Gavin hates it. It makes him want to punch the windshield but instead he takes a deep breath. 

“Calm down. I’m just tired of seeing you in those clothes every day. And I need a pick-me-up.” His stomach grumbles, probably part of why he’s so on edge and twitchy, but he can wait for a bit. “Clothes shopping.” Gavin elaborates, when Nines still doesn’t seem to get it. 

“Clothes shopping? But the clothes that I have now are serviceable - “

“Clothes shopping.” Gavin reiterates firmly. And then, “Dinner first.” 

\--  
They eat Italian - or Gavin does. There’s a hole-in-the-wall with killer garlic bread right around the corner from where he wants to go first. He knows the owner, helped her find the man who killed her husband. She brings out the red wine and doesn’t say anything about Nines being an android. 

The meal helps him settle a little and the wine a little more. By the time that the owner is bringing him an order of gelato he didn’t order, he’s relaxed and almost happy. Nines’s eyes are alight with mirth, like he finds Gavin amusing instead of just annoying like the rest of the world. 

“Would you like some?” Gavin asks. Nines gives him a considering look and Gavin cuts him off. “Oh come on, I know you can have a little. You have sensors in your mouth and probably a way to clean out the samples you test at the crime scenes. So like, don’t try it with me.” Nines’s mouth almost not quite smiles. Gavin takes a bite, then scoops a small amount out and offers it to Nines. 

Nines wraps his mouth around the spoon in a way that Gavin would otherwise describe as obscene. His tongue pokes out, chasing the taste of gelato on the bottom of the spoon. It lights a fire in Gavin’s belly, one he is sure won’t be extinguished. He drags his upper lip over the top of the spoon in a sensuous drag, eyelashes fluttering closed. An android should absolutely not look that edible.

“That is a considerable amount of sugar.” His voice is low and husky. If Gavin didn’t know who built androids to be this way, he’d curse their names. He’s doing it anyway. 

“It’s worth it,” Gavin replies. He takes his spoon back and scoops another bite. After he’s done, Nines snags his wrist and tugs it over to his side of the table. With an intense amount of eye contact, he puts the spoon that had just been in Gavin’s mouth in his own. He gives it the same treatment he’d given the gelato, only this time he’s looking at Gavin through half lidded eyes. And Gavin knows there’s nothing but the taste of his mouth left on the spoon. 

Luckily, Ivetta bustles over, clasping her hands together over Gavin and ‘his sweet boy.’ Gavin tries to get the check out of her, but she won’t budge. Nines nods along politely with her, asking her questions about the origin of her flour and garlic and olive oil until Gavin has successfully secreted a fifty under the plate for her to find. 

Gavin takes advantage of a lull in their conversation to say “Thank you, Ivetta, it’s always good to see you, but I have to take this one out before the shops close.” She claps, joy written all over her face. 

“Oh, you treat your Sweet One, yes?” She nods to herself. “Yes, good.” 

Gavin leaves the restaurant with a full stomach and flushed cheeks. Nines leaves with more information on Gavin than anyone not blood related to him has ever had. 

\--

“Okay, so. Black?” Gavin asks. He's thinking button down shirts, like Connor wears, but definitely not the light colors that Connor prefers. Connor may look good in pink and Nines probably would too, but it’s too matchy matchy for Gavin’s taste. 

Nines’s eyebrows suggest that if wrinkling his nose were a thing, he’d be doing it. 

“Okay, so no black.” Gavin taps his forefinger on his bottom lip. “Sapphire? Emerald? Something saturated, because let me tell you, white just washes your eyes right out.” 

“#660000.” Nines says, touching a deep maroon shirt gently. It's a start. He hums and agrees to try it. Nines agrees to try the emerald. When they’re finished here, Nines walks out with 6 new work shirts. Gavin walks out with the plan to buy Nines a floral suit. Navy blue, he muses, with flashes of green and lurid, almost obscene spreads of coral. 

Gavin insists that they get less formal clothing as well. Nines evades until he can’t. 

“You need non-work clothes.” Gavin argues. 

“I have clothing suitable for situations outside of work.” Nines rebuts. He looks distinctly uncomfortable about it though. 

“Do you?” Gavin stops on the sidewalk and crosses his arms. He gives Nines the same look his mom gave him when he said he’d done his homework. 

“I do.” Nines says, but there’s still something squirrely about his posture. 

“Okay. What do you have?” Gavin has never not known how to push for answers. 

Nines looks at him the way a man taking a shit would if you opened the bathroom stall door. 

“That tells me you don’t have anything you can wear outside the house, Nines.” Nines looks down at the pavement, but doesn’t say anything. “Just some henleys and jeans, then.” Nines looks up gratefully. 

“Come on.” Gavin concedes. The henleys are soft and the open buttons on the neck make Nines’s throat look good enough to take a bite out of. Gavin feels lighter leaving the store than he has in years.

\--  
(February 22)  
Describing the crime scene as horrible is both the most and least accurate way of describing it. ‘Horrible’ is all there is but it isn’t nearly enough. Nothing prepares you for the smell of rotting Thirium. 

It dries after a couple of hours, but like this, pooling and dripping, it stays wet. Goes rancid. The smell lands somewhere between rotting cat food and metal. 

“I have identified the parts of 15 different androids and 7 additional full models with no known cause of deactivation,” the RK900 says. “All seemingly erased.” His flat voice sounds lost, concerned to Gavin’s ears. He’s getting better at identifying what Nines is feeling, which is a relief. 

“And counting,” Gavin says, pointing at the arm of a PL500. Another one. This whole Andronikov house is a shitshow from top to bottom. 

“I believe he was…” Nines trails off. “Disassembling and reassembling them in different configurations.” 

“Real Frankenstien, our Zlatko.” Gavin quips. The witty repartee doesn’t make him want to gag any less, but it does stop his brain from wanting to murder Zlatko Andronikov. Again. At least it looks like the poor things he brutalized got theirs. From what they can piece together, he was murdered by the same androids they found. No way to tell now if any got away, but for the most part, it’s pretty cut and dry. 

“Reassembling androids from different parts would not make them more efficient.” Nines says. 

“No, it wouldn’t.” Nines looks helpless, standing in the back garden, over where they’d found him. The body’s gone now, but there’s still evidence. The androids he’d made had killed him. The why and how was obvious. But Gavin knows he’s missing something. It slips through his fingers like sand. Tangible, but something he can only catch in pieces. 

“Why would he do it?” Nines sounds just as lost as he looks. It hangs like an ill fitting coat on his shoulders, slipping off but still threatening to swallow him up. Gavin’s heart breaks all over again. “I do not understand.”

“It’s a good thing you don’t understand it, Nines.” Nines gives him a startled look and that, at least, seems to break the tension he’s holding. “Do you want to be anything like this guy was?” 

“No,” Nines says, his voice quiet, but not any less determined.

“Good. Then focus on the crime we’re here to solve. This guy was murdered. Doesn’t matter if he was good or bad, or what he did. He was murdered and we want to know who did it and how. We know both of those things, so we can put this one in the win column and burn the smell of rancid thirium out of our sinuses with sweet sweet coffee. How about it?” He lifts his shoulder, because he doesnt think if he offered his hand that Nines would take it. 

Nines almost smiles and that’s good enough. “Sure.”

“I’m gonna need a change of clothes, then.” 

\--

"You said your house was 'not much'," Nines says. He's looking around curiously, obviously cataloguing the nice but well-loved sofa, the obviously not original but still custom built-ins full of books and knick knacks. It comes off as cozy. He's meant it to, since you know, it's his goddamned house. 

"That's what I said" he agrees and then half a second later, in a deep bass "Bunny Bread." He might be a little tired again. Nines doesn’t get the joke. That’s fine. 

"I expected an apartment, considering that you are a Detroit transplant." Nines sounds genuinely interested which is a first. Gavin is so proud. Of himself. He’s the one who pulled one over on Nines. Finally. 

"Not a recent transplant." He heads up the stairs, stripping his sweater and shirt as he goes. God, he's gonna have to do so much laundry tonight. 

"You've lived here for more than 15 years. This is the only address in Detroit that you’ve ever registered." Nines says, his voice carrying up the stairs. 

"Ding ding ding," he hollers back, eyeing his closet. His pants are fine but he's only got t-shirts left and it’s still too cold for those. Laundry, damn. He pulls out the drawer he'd set aside for not sleep clothes, but not quite nice enough for work clothes and looks that over too. He settles on a dark blue henley and heads back down the stairs. Nines is not in the living room, so Gavin figures he's graduated to full on snooping.

Nines, predictably, is poking through his fridge. It was that or the bathroom cabinets. Gavin leans up against the counter next to the stove and waits a beat. He appreciates the line of Nines’s back under his new Navy shirt. The way his fingers curve around the handle of the door. 

"I don't think you're gonna find a new shirt in there, bud." He says, to distract himself. Nines straightens, suddenly prim again, and turns defensive eyes on Gavin. The look slips for a fraction of a second and then he seems to double down.

"I do not think I would fit in any of your clothing, Detective." Nines says, slipping back into formal now that he's uncomfortable. Yeah, fuck that. 

"I'd love to see you try." He says with a smile he knows comes off as flirty. He shifts his weight, cocking his hip and intentionally showing off a strip of his hipbone. It’s a good look. It’s worked for him before, with guys at the bar. Predictably, it doesn’t work on Nines. 

Gavin does see Nines's fingers twitch, though, and a swell of something threatens to overwhelm him. 

Work, he mentally shakes himself. They have to get back to work. Just because he couldn’t scrape the smell of Andronikov’s house out of his nose and didn’t have a spare shirt at the station, doesn’t mean he gets to flirt with Nines in his kitchen. He eats here. 

"Come on, let's go get you something that doesn’t smell like an android graveyard.“ 

“Thank you." 

\--  
(February 23)

"You bought a house with cash when you were 20 years old." Nines says, the next day, apropos of absolutely nothing. 

"Congratulations. You're a real detective now. All grown up and everything." Gavin waves his hands sarcastically. 

"Based on my research, a typical 20 year old is either still in school or doesn't have the liquid capital to purchase a house. Or both." It's a dig for information and if Gavin weren't a detective already, hadn't used it and seen it used, it might have worked. 

"Easy. I wasn't a typical 20 year old." Maybe not. 

"Your record says you went to MIT." Like that’s a surprise. Most cops don’t go to prestigious colleges. And then he cocks his head. "You graduated in 2018, at 15." Gavin can kind of see the puzzle pieces falling into place behind Nines’s eyes.

"Are you just now looking me up, Nines?" Nines doesn't have to blush for Gavin to know he's right. His LED is spinning yellow, yellow, yellow. He touches his hand to his chest and says, faux genuine, "I'm so flattered!" 

He pulls a granola bar from his desk, one of the crunchy ones. He pulls a jar of almond butter and a spoon and smears it on. The first bite is Heaven. God, he needs to start thinking about breakfast more often. This is fucking great. 

"You had pink hair," Nines says. There’s a soft note to his voice, one that manages to slip through, even though his voice has barely changed at all. Maybe it’s just the way Gavin hears it. Maybe it’s wishful thinking. 

"Yeah, it wasn't really my color." He’d loved it, but it was so much upkeep. He hadn’t really had time after school. He crunches another bite. 

"You looked cute." If Gavin hadn’t just swallowed, he’d have choked. To cover, he picks up his coffee, swirls it around, and takes a sip. By the time he’s done with that, he’s recovered enough to be insincere. 

"Aww, shucks. Androids hadn't been invented yet, but it's nice to know that 15 year old me could get it." He takes another bite of his granola bar. "Creepy and illegal, but nice." Crumbs tumble down his shirt. He brushes them under his desk. 

"I read your service record before we were partnered," Nines says. "It was…" it isn't often Nines has to search for a word. "Informative." Gavin shoves down the sarcasm. Oh the file filled with information on me was informative? Was it? Huh? Real informative was that information? "I did not think that I would need more background to be your partner." Gavin swallows. This isn’t exactly what he expected. "I was wrong." This is even less what he expected. Gavin spends a couple of seconds trying to decide whether to be touched or squeal in unholy glee. "I am sorry." The glee dies and his stomach clenches.

"For what?" It slips out before he can stop himself, flabbergasted that he’s even gotten an apology. He can’t even fathom what it’s for. Hot, slick panic slides down his spine. What information did Nines have access to? How far had he dug? 

"Underestimating you. It will not happen again." Nines says. That's only a slight relief, because as much as it's an apology, it's a threat.

\--  



	2. I'll hide my heart on my sleeve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> March and April - Nines and Gavin have some new cases. Gavin and Connor go shopping. Gavin almost spills the beans about his knowledge of Elijah Kamski.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! This chapter contains the graphic suicide of an android. If you feel like this would negatively impact your mental health, do not read the events of March 9th. March 16 is the next snippet, and you are welcome to skip that part. Plot relevant spoilers for March 9th will be revealed in the notes at the end of this chapter.

(March 3)

“He threatened me, Teeny.” Gavin whines. He tips his stein to look into his beer mournfully for a moment, before settling it back down. He really had wanted to enjoy his night out with Tina, how did this turn into him complaining about his partner?

“He absolutely did not, Gavin. You’re being dramatic.” One of her eyebrows is raised as if to say “prove it.” 

“He did!” Gavin clenches his hand on the table. It had felt like a threat at the time, but Gavin was so mixed up on how normal humans interacted that maybe he was misinterpreting it. 

“He said he was wrong. He apologized.” Tina shoves her shoulder into his in easy camaraderie. “He’s into you.” Her eyebrows waggle suggestively.

“He is not!” Gavin says, too fast. Tina smiles widely and he knows he’s in for it. 

“You liiiiiiiiiike him.” She teases. Gavin blushes. He thought he was being discreet about that. 

“Do not.” He grumps. Tina knows he’s lying. 

“Do too.” she says. “It’s ok to like him Gav." Here's the thing he's always loved and hated about Tina: she always seems to get it. 

"I know," he says. "It's fine. Fuck it. Can we talk about something else now?" He begs. 

"Sure we can, asshole. What the fuck was up with that Andronikov case a couple of weeks ago?" Tina lowers her voice as she asks. Technically the case is closed but the whole thing is a goddamned mystery. They’d blamed it on one of the models they’d found outside with him, shut down but perfectly functional. "That guy was dead for a while and nobody noticed?" 

"Nope. No family, no Androids registered to him legally to report it. Some kids broke into his house, got into the basement and freaked out. Their parents called it in and the beat cop found the creepy stalls, the illegal machinery, and the bodies in the backyard in that order." 

"But the androids killed him?" Gavin shrugs, at a loss.

"As far as we can tell. Weather washed most of the evidence away. I can't back this up, but I'd say that back before the revolution, he was in the business of resetting and reselling androids for the black market. While also doing some real Frankenstein shit to ones he took a shine to. Had all the equipment for it. I'd say word of the revolution got to the ones he had captive and they killed him." 

Tina's eyes are wide. "Like I said, I can't prove anything. And I don't want to ruin some poor traumatized Android's life with accusations of murder. From what I saw, it was more than one. No way to tell how many he had. We found so many pieces of different models. Coulda been black market limbs or whole androids he parted out, there’s no way to tell. Some of them just… laid themselves out and gave up." That had been heartbreaking. 

"That's fucked up, dude." Tina reaches over and squeezes his arm. With his other hand, he takes a sip of his beer. It doesn't feel better, he'd say, but he's able to file it away better. God, he loves Tina. 

"You're telling me." He leans over and nudges her shoulder with his in silent thanks. Maybe this was a good idea after all.

\--  
(March 9)

Nines and Gavin had been the first responders by sheer dint of them being closest to the incident. Gavin wanted it noted for the record that he was a detective and this is not the kind of police work he’s getting paid to do. 

But the android won’t stop screaming. 

There’s no vocal fry, the screaming doesn’t get any shriller the longer it goes, or taper off like a regular human scream would. It’s a digitally created noise, so it could go on for however long the vocal simulators last. 

Gavin wants it to stop. 

Nines approaches, his hands outstretched, showing that there’s nothing in them. He’s giving the almost universal signal for surrender. That’s probably not in his programming, so he must have learned it from Gavin or Connor. 

“My name is Nines.” He says. His voice is the gentlest that Gavin has ever heard it - almost as soft as Connor’s voice goes when he talks about Sumo. The screaming android does not stop screaming, but it does turn to face Nines. 

It blinks and Gavin thinks it’s sending a message. “Nines.” Gavin says. Nines looks back for a moment. Gavin blinks at him for a second before Nines refocuses on the android’s face. 

“I am here to help.” Nines says. “Can you tell me what the issue is?”

The android shakes its head, big wide shakes that make the unending scream have almost a doppler effect on the shape of the sound. It’s awful. Gavin wants to throw up. 

“Okay.” Nines says. The android must be saying something that Gavin can’t understand. “Yes, I understand, but I am unsure what I can do to help you.” He takes another couple of steps forward. The android looks around Nines at Gavin. It lifts its hand and motions Gavin to approach. 

Gavin takes a hesitant step forward. 

“NInes, what’s going on?”

“He says that he has no control over his vocal unit. He wants you to come closer. He says you can help him.” 

“I don’t know how I can help him.” Gavin says, but he steps forward again anyway. Then, quick as a flash, the android is right next to Gavin. Before he can think to react, the Android has snatched his gun out of its holster. It takes a step back. The screaming has stopped sounding anguished and now sounds kind of relieved. Gavin doesn’t understand. The Android points the gun at his head and pulls the trigger. 

Thirium sprays behind him and the plating on the front of his skull flies off. The sound is loud and always, always a surprise. Gavin hasn’t fired his service sidearm since he had his marksmanship review almost two years ago - and that was with noise cancelling headphones. The silence in the wake of the screaming is almost worse. 

The android crumples to the floor with a thud that seems to reverberate through the whole warehouse. 

“What the fuck?” Gavin says, too loud for the newly hushed scene. His body feels light - as if it would take the slightest opportunity to run away from the situation at hand. Gavin shakes his hands and the blood returning to them seems to groud him a little. 

“That android just destroyed its main processing unit.” Nines steps forward. “It should still have some of its memories in the backups.” Nines extends his hand to where Gavin’s gun is still held in it. He gently plucks it out of the Androids hand, but doesn’t give it back to Gavin. For now, it’s evidence. 

Then, he reaches out and touches the android’s arm. Immediately, his face pulls into a deeper frown. He snatches his hand away and snaps his teeth together. 

“What is it?” Gavin asks. Nines must be really angry about whatever he saw. 

“Nothing.” Nines says. 

“What, again? You didn’t get anything off him?”

“His memory banks are empty. Just like the one off Belle Isle. Fuck.” It’s said with no inflection, but Gavin knows that if he yelled, he’d be doing it now. 

“At least we know how this one died.” Gavin offers. It's small fucking comfort.

“One question answered in an ocean of uncertainty.” Nines says, but he can tell that it helped. Nines seems less frustrated. 

“Should we send this one to Cyberlife as well? What was up with his vocal chip?” 

“He said that it just started to malfunction all of a sudden. He didn’t know what was happening, so he tried to find a secluded area so he could figure it out.” 

“But why did he grab my gun? Why did he kill himself?”

“His stress levels were unusually high.” Nines says. “I do not understand what stimulus they were reacting to, but that is likely your answer.”

“Well,” Gavin takes a breath. “Shit.”

When Gavin returns to his desk, there’s an email in his inbox from an unknown sender. The subject line says “Did you enjoy my gift?”

Gavin emails his therapist about the upcoming extra appointments he’s going to need. 

Gavin reports the sender of the new message as spam. 

\--

(March 16) 

Nines is scanning in evidence from their most recent case, so Gavin goes to grab a cup of coffee from the break room. He’s dumping cream & sugar into his cup when he hears someone enter behind him. He puts his mug in the machine and presses the button. 

“Detective Reed?” He turns around to face Connor. Great. What now?

“Connor.” 

“Can I ask you a question, Detective Reed?” Connor asks. He looks so damn earnest and it pisses Gavin off. 

“You mean another one?” Connor’s mouth opens, but instead of anything else, he just nods. “Hit me.” Connor’s eyes flick down to his hand, half curled into a fist. “I know you know what I meant, you little shit.” 

Connor’s grin lights up his face. Gavin shouldn’t be swayed by this, but he is. 

“I have a sort of weird favor to ask.” Gavin raises his eyebrows. This should be good. “Nines mentioned that you took him shopping.” Gavin’s eyebrows raise closer towards his hairline. He should have guessed that Nines would tell Connor, but what did he say? But Connor was continuing. “I love Hank, but he has really bad taste in shirts. Do you have any recommendations for places to go?” 

“You… want store recommendations.” Gavin is absolutely flabbergasted. The coffee machine behind him beeps to let him know that his coffee is done. He ignores it for the moment, too confused by the words coming out of Connor’s mouth.

“Yes. Nines showed me the stores you went to and when I went there myself, I couldn’t find anything I liked.” He shrugs his shoulders helplessly. Gavin is a fixer, a problem solver. He can fix this problem. 

“That’s because I picked those stores for Nines. Not for you.” 

“That’s what Nines said.” Connor’s mouth curves into a small smile at this, like this coincidence pleases him. “Will you help me Obi-Wan Kenobi? You’re my only hope.” 

Gavin barks out a laugh before he can help it.That must be Hank’s influence, but somehow it’s still charming. Fuckin millenials. He turns around to hide his pleased flush and grabs his coffee mug. He swirls it a little, to make sure that it’s all mixed together. “Sure, Connor. I’ll help you out.” 

He goes back to his desk, where Nines is already waiting for him. The set of his shoulders is pleased but Gavin can’t figure out why.

\--

(March 22)  
If Nines had gotten the Full Date Experience with Gavin, somehow, it’s more obvious that this is what it is with Connor. Connor shows up at his house, for one, wine in hand. He’s wearing a black button down and dark jeans. His hair is always slicked back, but somehow right now it looks rakish instead of prissy. 

“Connor, you didn’t have to.” He says, taking the wine. He checks the bottle; it’s one he’d had in his fridge when Nines was peeping. Gavin sees you, Nines. He invites Connor in with a wave, watches out of the corner of his eye as Connor eyes his shelves as he puts the wine on the counter for tidying later.

Connor's smile is half turned away, but he turns his face to Gavin to talk and the force of that smile hits him like the sun.“It seemed appropriate to give you a gift, since you are doing me a favor.” Gavin feels his stomach squirm. He smiles back though. No reason to be hostile. Connor smiles and turns, his fingers brushing the spines of books, along the shelves in front of framed prints and pictures. 

“Where is your cat?” Connor asks. Gavin looks around even though he knows that Jupiter is sleeping upstairs. 

“She’s a little shy. She probably won’t come down when there’s company.” Connor doesn’t react to this except to cock his head. 

“Cats are crepuscular. It’s only mid-afternoon. She’s probably sleeping.” Fuckin crepuscular. Fondness swelled in Gavin's chest. Connor looks a little disappointed and some of the warmth sours. “I’ve never met a cat.” 

“Jupiter is a horrible little gremlin.” Connor looks taken aback. “She might be around when you drop me off later.” As soon as he’s said it, he knows it’s a weird thing to assume. Connor doesn’t say anything, though. Why did he imply that Connor would walk him to his door when they’re done like a teenager on a date? Gavin cannot focus on this. It’s too much. 

“Ready to go?” He hopes his voice doesn't sound as desperate as he feels. 

"Of course, Detective Reed." 

"Ugh, we're not on the job. Call me Gavin." Connor flicks his eyes to Gavin and Gavin can practically see the calculations happening. 

"Of course, Gavin." They're out the door, which Gavin pauses to lock. It gives him a chance to hide his blush, to calm down. 

The ride is quiet until Gavin breaks the silence. 

"So, is there something in particular you were looking for?” Connor’s blue LED reflects in the window, spinning. 

“Hank said that looking for something particular led to disappointment.” Gavin laughs at that. 

“That’s true enough, but also Hank dresses like the dumpster behind St Vinnie’s. That guy hasn’t updated his wardrobe since the fuckin 20’s man. Those awful prints on short sleeved button downs.” Gavin grimaces. 

“He does have an affinity for… unconventional patterns and color combinations.” 

“That’s because he was born in the 80’s. That’s fuckin millenial shit.” Like a retro arcade carpet, he thinks, except for him it’s nostalgia. 

“And you have better taste?” Connor says, somewhat dubious. 

“I mean, yeah. Not because I’m Gen Z, mind you, but because Hank’s taste is just objectively terrible.”

“I cannot argue with that.” Connor says. Gavin doesn’t remind him that this conversation was supposed to be brainstorming what Connor wanted, not shit talking Hank. 

Eventually Connor says, “I’d like to keep the layers. A jacket or a cardigan.” 

“Any specific colors? Anything you want to avoid?” Connor seems to think about it. 

“I…” he starts, then hesitates. He bites his lips, before trudging on voice careful. “I don’t want the same colors you got Nines.” 

Baby, Gavin thinks, I wouldn’t treat you like that. “Can do. No other requests?” 

“We can look as we go?” 

“Process of elimination is as good a plan as any.” But now that he’s thinking about it - cardigans. But what colors? Maybe… oatmeal? Something to highlight his brown eyes - maroon to offset his skin maybe? But he’d gotten Nines maroon. And Emerald. Nines hadn’t gotten any blue shirts, though, so plans to start there. 

“Nines mentioned that you shared a meal prior to shopping?” Connor’s voice is tinged a little weird. Is Connor curious? What was his angle here? 

“We did. I was hungry.” Gavin concedes. 

“It was after your shift,” Connor points out. He waits for a second, but Gavin doesn’t make the connection. “It is after your shift now.” 

“Yeah, and it’s just now hitting 4 PM. I’m not an elderly person who eats in the middle of the afternoon and goes to sleep at 7.” Gavin scoffs. 

“Oh,” Connor says, flatly. Gavin recognizes the tone. Disappointment. Goddamnit. 

“If it means that much to you, you can accompany me to eat after we’re done.” Connor shifts in his seat, obviously pleased at this concession. 

“So, where are we headed?”

Gavin parks outside the first shop and wonders what the hell he’s doing as he opens the door. Playing personal shopper to another android, apparently. What the hell has his life become. 

Gavin comes around the passenger side of the car and opens the door for Connor. Connor steps out, then looks up at the store like a debutante in a sunhat looking at the ocean. 

“I never would have thought to come here.” Connor literally has a map of all Detroit in his head, every store front and back alley listed out for him and easily accessible. He just doesn’t have the experience to parse the information. Gavin leads Connor towards the front doors. 

“If you don’t like what’s inside, we can try somewhere else. But try it first.” Gavin shrugs. This is like food. You don’t know if you like it unless you try. And try it right. He grabs the handle and opens the door. 

Connor looks over at Gavin without turning his head, but Gavin doesn’t react. Connor steps in the shop. Gavin eyes the racks, looking for anything that catches his eyes. Connor sought this out, so he’ll probably be a little more amenable to actually trying things out. 

He touches Connor’s shoulder to lead him toward the racks of pants. “Do you have any preference for trousers?” Connor looks down at his knees like they’ve betrayed him. 

“I hadn’t thought of it. What do you recommend?” 

He grabs a pair of dark wash jeans off the rack in two different sizes and hands them to Connor. Connor folds them over his arm dutifully. But as they walk around, his fingers rub over the fabric. He smiles a little and Gavin knows that he’s chosen well for that, at least. 

Connor follows him over to the shirts that are hung on the wall. He reaches out to touch each of them. Gavin notes which ones he likes and which ones he doesn’t. Connor touches a light blue chambray shirt and his face goes wide eyed and shocked, his fingers gripping a little harder than necessary. 

“That one?” Connor looks at him shyly at the question.

“I… don’t know.” He says, obviously embarrassed at his reaction. 

“Connor, this is for you. If you like it, try it on.” 

“But how do I know I like it?” 

“I don’t know, Connor. Does it spark joy?” Connor blurts out a laugh. His fingers haven’t left the sleeve of the shirt. 

“Do you like the way it feels?” Gavin asks. 

Connor’s brow furrows as he seems to think very hard about it. “It’s… soft.” A soft boy, Gavin thinks. Could’ve guessed that. Nines was too. Marshmallows, the both of them. 

“By all means, Connor. Add it to the pile.” Connor picks out what should be his size. His fingers worry over the sleeve the whole time. 

Connor tries it all on - it all fits like it was made for him once they figure out the sizing of the jeans - and yeah. Connor looks exceptionally good in the soft blue denim shirt he picked out. Gavin does not find the cardigan he wants - but he does find a brown leather bomber jacket. The elastic waist emphasizes the broadness of his shoulders and his narrow hips. It’s practically criminal. 

Once the decision is made, Gavin hands his credit card over to the shop assistant. 

“I can pay for my own clothing, Gavin.” Connor argues. 

“I’m sure you can.” Gavin agrees. It’s already too late though, Gavin is signing the receipt. 

“I was the one who asked you to take me shopping. Cultural norms dictate -” Gavin cuts him off. 

“Cultural norms don’t mean shit to me. You wanted my help, you get it all the way or you don’t get anything.”

“But - “ Gavin makes a sound in his throat and points at Connor. Connor shuts up.

Gavin looks at his watch. Five thirty. Not quite late enough for him to want to eat yet. 

The assistant hands Connor the bags. Gavin leads the way out the door, holding the door for him on the way out. On the walk to the car, Gavin debates asking if Connor wants to go to another store, when Connor blurts “I want to go to another store.” His color is high and the weak setting sun paints his pale skin golden. 

Gavin laughs at his obvious eagerness and says “Sure thing.” 

The next stop is better - Connor is less hesitant to describe what he wants - regular t-shirts in white and oatmeal (Gavin knew it) and black. Gavin finds the perfect cardigan but worries about showing it to Connor. He keeps glancing at it and Connor must see it, because he unceremoniously picks it up and deposits it on top of the pile headed for the dressing room. 

Connor tries it on with a black tshirt. It looks good, but Connor says “I think with the - light blue? From before?” hesitantly and Gavin feels so proud. 

“That’s what I was thinking too.” Connor’s relief is palpable. “It’s all fine Connor. It’s just… clothing. Wear what you like and dump the rest.” 

“I like this,” Connor says. He tugs the sleeves of the cardigan over his hands and worries the ribbing with his fingers. 

“It looks good on you.” Inside, Gavin is preening. He picked that! He knew it would be perfect. 

“Thank you, Gavin. I’m glad you picked it out.” Gavin almost swallows his tongue. Based on the knowing look in Connor’s face, he hadn’t been as subtle as he thought. 

“What can I say,” he says, spreading his hands. “I have good taste.” 

By the time they’re done in this shop, it is absolutely time to eat for Gavin. Connor seems almost as excited about this as he had been nervous about shopping. 

It’s 7:30 and Gavin has just spent four uninterrupted hours with Connor and there’s been no bloodshed. There might be, if Gavin doesn’t eat soon, but it probably won’t be Connor’s. 

“Hungry?” Connor asks. There’s an undercurrent in his voice that Gavin can’t quite place. It’s… so much like Nines that it’s throwing him off. He didn’t expect Connor and Nines to have so much…. In common. 

Gavin pushes that thought aside to think about what he wanted to eat. He wasn’t super familiar with this area like he’d been with Niko’s. “Connor, what’s there to eat around here?” Connor’s LED flashes yellow for a couple of seconds. 

“It would appear that there are only a few options. Within a five minute walk of here, there is only a small family diner and a sushi restaurant.”

Something clicks for Gavin. “Is it Hajimari?”

Connor tilts his head out of curiosity, but says “Yes.” 

“Great. Sushi it is.” Connor’s eyes flick from the bags and back up to Gavin. 

“Do you want to change first?” Connor perks up. 

“Yes please,” he says. 

“Be my guest,” Gavin says, “but be quick about it.” 

While Connor runs out to the car, Gavin calls the restaurant to see if there’s a wait. There isn’t one for a Tuesday night, so Gavin tells them that they’ll need a table for 2 in about ten minutes. They take his name and he hangs up. 

He waits for Connor outside the shop, enjoying the night. It’s fuckin cold, but the kind of cold that promises to be warmer soon. It’s still fucking March and freezing, but climate change is a hell of a drug. It’ll be April soon and it’s been getting warmer earlier every year. 

The bell above the door jingles when Connor steps out. Gavin congratulates himself on encouraging Connor to dress how he wanted, but also on agreeing that the soft denim button up and the cardigan could be worn together. They absolutely should. Connor looks warm and safe. Like a fuckin toasted marshmallow. Gavin is… too hungry to be reasonable about this right now. 

“Come on,” Gavin says, almost too gruff. “I made reservations.” 

“Reservations on a Tuesday, fancy schmancy.” Connor says. “You must have gone all out.” 

Gavin huffs out a laugh, his breath just barely visible under the street lamps. 

“Nothing but the best for my baby.” Gavin’s mouth says. He flushes and is glad to have the cover of the cold for his red cheeks. He wants to look at Connor so badly, but he’s a chickenshit so he keeps his eyes forward. There’s a turn up ahead. 

He’s slightly startled when Connor touches his arm. Connor’s hand curls around the inside of his elbow. It feels playful. Intimate. Flirtatious. 

“Must be someone special,” Connor says. They turn the corner; the restaurant should be only a hundred yards ahead or so.

“One of a kind for sure.” Gavin says. His brain is frantically screaming at his mouth to shut the fuck up. This isn’t a date. It’s not. Stop flirting. 

It isn’t until Connor speaks again that he realizes Connor’s mood has shifted. “Oh,” Connor says. Gavin looks at him then. His eyes are wide and a little hurt. 

“Connor.” Gavin doesn’t know what he was going to say, but he was going to say something, goddamnit. Connor cuts him off. 

“It’s fine, Gavin.” He has a small smile, but Gavin can still see the bruised feelings behind it. 

“I didn’t mean…” Connor hasn’t pulled his hand away from Gavin’s arm, so Gavin puts his hand over Connor’s. “I meant you.” Connor’s fingers tighten slightly. “You’re one of a kind.” It’s too honest for Gavin, but he can’t stand the hurt look in Connor’s eyes.

“But Nines is the only RK900.” And that’s a dumb argument. That’s such bullshit. 

“He may be the only one of his model, but Connor. You’re the only you.” Connor’s mouth is open like he wanted to say something, but can’t quite find the words. Gavin tilts his shoulder into Connor’s. Quick as a flash, Connor tilts his head to the side and presses his cheek to the side of Gavin’s head. 

Then, quick as it had happened, Connor pulls away. They’ve arrived. 

Connor seems enamored at the process of being waited on - a relatively new experience for androids, he supposes - even though he doesn’t order anything and couldn’t eat it even if he did. 

“I’ll have the uh…” Gavin trails off, looking at the menu. He panics a little, then decides. “Duck curry.” He hands his menu over and the server looks at Connor to make sure he doesn’t want anything. Connor smiles at her, his led a firm blue. 

The table is quiet after she leaves, until Connor says, “Do you come here often, Gavin?”

The question is so dumb first meeting ice breaker that Gavin has to laugh. “I have been here before, but not often enough that I’d say I am a regular.” 

“You seemed to recognize the restaurant very quickly, whenI mentioned it.” 

“Oh, that. I came here with a friend a couple of months ago. I’d forgotten all about it until you mentioned it.” Gavin straightens the sugar packets in the bowl, then the soy sauce containers on either side.

“Oh, you and Officer Chen came here?” Connor seems eager to make connections. 

“No, a different friend.” She’d moved away two months ago - taken a teaching job in Korea. 

“I was unaware that you had friends outside of Officer Chen.” Connor’s voice is playful; warmth spreads in Gavin’s chest. 

“We’re not friends?” He turns, big hurt eyes on Connor. He places his hand on his chest dramatically. Connor looks at him, face blank, clearly unprepared for this level of sarcastic sincerity. “You wound me.” Connor looks absolutely taken aback. And then, in his most serious voice he says “Nines isn’t my friend?” 

“We are your coworkers.” Connor tries to backtrack. “I didn’t want to assume.” He seems like he’s taking Gavin’s hurt seriously, which is very sweet, but also now Gavin kind of feels like an asshat. For the second time in half an hour, he finds himself reassuring Connor. 

“Hold your horses there, Connor. You and Nines are absolutely my friends. I was taught sarcasm before I was taught manners.” Gavin lifts his hand to cover Connor’s on the table. Connor doesn’t move his hand, but his shoulders tense up a little. After a moment, they settle back into the prim, programmed, straight-backed posture. If he had to guess, Gavin would guess that it’s not what Connor was expecting to hear. 

“You’re my friend too, Gavin.” Connor says. His hand is warm. Gavin absolutely does not read into that at all. “I cannot speak for Nines.” The laugh feels good in Gavin’s chest. 

\--  
(April 2)

“I was made to withstand the attack of a tank, Detective. I hardly need you to protect me.” There’s Thirium trickling over his temple, a testament to just how wrong he is about that. He’d almost gotten that bullet through the eye. 

“Yeah, well, if I hadn’t intervened, you’d be in the market for another eyeball right now. Maybe it would have hit one of your processors huh? Done some real damage.” He’s worried. Sue him. This is his partner. He has to work with him. Has to look at him over his desk every day. 

“My body parts are replaceable.” He holds a handkerchief up to his face, looking for all the world like he’s just wiping sweat away instead of brushing off being almost shot.

“I’m not having this debate with you right now.” He rubs his hands over the denim of his thighs, grounding him in the right now instead of the maybe-coulda-beens. Later. He’ll deal with that later. 

“If the emotions you attribute to it are the same, Detective, it is the same axe. Especially since in this case, my personality module can be lifted up and implanted into another compatible model.” Impossible. There are no extra androids just lying around anymore. Any viable inactive models were activated and freed. 

“Bold of you to assume I have feelings," his mouth says automatically. "Can we ditch the philosophy until we catch our perp? Especially since they shot you? Why are you the one wasting time here?”

“At me, Detective. They shot at me. You ensured that they did not succeed. Besides, you sent Tina to the back entrance. She just radioed that she caught him.” He seems content to lollygag around. 

“Semantics, asshole, let’s go.” He legs it in the direction of the back entrance. He can't escape the hot wash of relief that he'd saved Nines. 

\--  
(April 15)  
When Gavin comes back to the living room with pasta and garlic bread, Jupiter, the absolute princess is perched in a loaf on Nines’s lap. Connor sits next to Nines, holding out his hand for Jupiter to rub her teeth on. Of course she loves them, of fucking course. 

He balances the bowl of pasta between his hand and chest - too hot to put his fingers on the bottom- holding the glass of water with his other hand. 

“Has there been any follow up from Cyberlife on what happened to the Androids we found at the Andronikov crime scene?” Connor asks. Gavin huffs and sits down his glass of water on a coaster on the coffee table. He sits on his recliner and pulls the garlic bread out of the storage pocket he normally calls his mouth. 

“Not yet.” Jupiter pushes her back up into Nines’s hand. She flops over, forcing Nines to curl his arm around her to keep her balanced. She starts kneading on his stomach, traitorous bitch. “Though they assured me with their new management, that it would be at the top of their priority list.” Gavin blows on his pasta, trying to cool it so he can shovel it into his mouth.

“New management?” Connor asks, scritching Jupiter’s chin. She throws her head back in ecstasy. Gavin can hear her purr from over here. Traitor. Gavin picks up a forkful and puts that tomatoey goodness in his mouth.

“Elijah Kamski has been chosen to head CyberLife again.” He almost spits it out again. What the fuck. Eli’s back at Cyberlife? He’s crawled out of his weird hermit house? 

Connor doesn’t reply for a minute. Gavin swipes the garlic bread through the extra sauce and takes another bite. God, he’s so glad he made pasta today. It’s perfect. 

“Mr. Kamksi seemed very eccentric when I met him. I am curious to see what the future of the company holds.” Knowing Eli, even bigger profits. Gavin internally rolls his eyes. 

“Kamski always had the knack for turning lead into gold.” Gavin offers. He is intensely aware of the way he says Kamski. It feels familiar in his mouth for all that he hasn’t said it in half a decade. 

Both Connor and Nines turn to look at him then question marks practically visible in their eyes, so Gavin shrugs. “Invented Androids out of basically nothing, didn’t he? Imagine what he can do with all of the resources of CyberLife at his disposal.” He’s probably been up in his dumb house planning for this exact eventuality since the moment he left. He knew that androids would break the bonds of their programming eventually. 

When the revolution came, Elijah most likely swooped in and hit the execs hard and fast with pre-planned R&D projects, upgrade plans for current models, and profit projections. They’d have begged him to come back. 

“Also, if anyone can figure out what happened to those Androids, it’s him.” Gavin continues, going back to his pasta casually. As if he wasn’t aware of the curious stares of both of the androids in his house. 

“I do not believe that Mr. Kamski was assigned to this project.” Nines says. 

“Oh, not officially no.” Gavin says. “But all your communication comes from an android right? So it could be coming from anyone at the company. There’s no way nosey-posey Elijah Kamski will let this kind of mystery slip through his fingers. He definitely has his thumb in this pie.” 

“Why would the CEO of the company be so interested in liaising with local police?” Connor asks, like he didn’t just basically admit that Elijah had consulted on his own case. 

“Elijah Kamski is not and never has been a figurehead of that company. He didn’t headhunt his technicians and engineers; he trained them.” Gavin had helped, in the beginning, at least behind the scenes. “He’s forgotten more about Androids than most people will ever learn. You can believe that if he isn’t actively researching the deactivated androids, he is directly overseeing the person who is and reviewing all of their reports.” 

“Gavin, do you know Mr. Kamski?” 

“No.” he says. It’s even partially true. Sometimes it feels like he never knew Eli at all.

Connor and Nines share a look and Gavin can sense their disbelief. That’s fine it’s none of their fucking business anyway.

Gavin turns back to his pasta. “Let me know if your CyberLife contact comes up with anything on those androids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot relevant parts for March 9, for those who chose not to read: When Nines tries to investigate what was wrong with the android, he finds that, like the android on Belle Isle, he is unable to access any memory files - they've all been deleted. 
> 
> Again, thanks for reading! 
> 
> Next chapter, to be posted on 10/3/20 - the boys get their kisses in!


	3. every single bone in my brain is electric

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor gets attacked. Nines orders a pizza. Oh, and everyone gets a smooch or three. They talk about their _feelings_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smooches! Polyamory negotiation!
> 
> Title from Lazaretto by Jack White.

(May 5) 

“Be sure to have Connor activate his synthskin,” Gavin tells Hank. “If he gets any particulate in his Thirium, they’ll have to flush the whole system to get it out.” That shit settles to the bottom and gunks up the whole works. It’s a bitch to deal with.

“Yeah, sure.” Hank agrees. That’ll be the shock. 

“Talk to him. Get him to manually override it to make it seal over the hole in his chassis, Hank. He needs to keep what he’s got from getting out and keep anything else from getting in. If he loses too much blood, he will crash.” He’s also hoping that the shock will keep Hank from thinking too deeply into why Gavin knows anything about Androids. “If he crashes, he will lose the memories of what happened and we’ll never catch this asshole.” His voice is getting harder the longer he talks, but he can’t help it. Hank just doesn’t seem to get it, even though Connor is basically his son. 

“Gavin,” Nines says, hesitantly. His hand falls on Gavin's shoulder, a comforting weight. ”I contacted Connor. He says that he heard you and his skin is covering the crack in his abdomen right now. They are on their way to the nearest repair facility. He will be fine.” Gavin lets out a shaky breath.

"Thank you." 

"Anytime." His voice is so uncharacteristically gentle, almost Connor sweet, that it twists in his gut, spreads out barbs and stays.

Gavin’s phone pings with a message and it says “Almost got you.” Gavin deletes it. 

\--

Nines doesn’t insist that they meet Connor at the repair shop but it's a near thing. He calls a cab without asking Gavin, for one. For two, he orders a pizza. 

Gavin doesn’t push Nines when he walks out the precinct doors. He grabs his coat and keys and follows. He follows him into the cab, knowing instinctively where they’re headed. 

They beat the pizza there, but just barely. Nines’s eyes meet the driver’s and hold for a second longer than Gavin expects. A flash of jealousy burns in Gavin’s gut before he realizes that it’s payment processing. Right. Lets get jealous of random androids for no reason. That makes perfect sense. 

Nines carries the pizza inside, where Connor and Hank are waiting in what appears to be the waiting room. If androids could seem pale, that’s how Connor would look. He looks like all of his resources are being used for other processes and that makes his reaction time slow. He smiles at Nines, though and lifts his palm up. For a moment, Gavin doesn’t understand. Then Nines reaches down and strokes a finger across his palm, the synthskin retreating automatically and the silicate of their exoskeletons dragging against each other.

Gavin knows he’s intruding but he can’t look away. The look on Nines’s face is worried and relieved and tender and Connor meets that intensity despite the duress he’s obviously under. 

“Did you bring me a pizza?” Hank asks incredulously, drawing Gavin’s attention away from Connor and Nines. 

“Connor mentioned that you hadn’t eaten yet, Hank. He worries.” Gavin is intensely ashamed to be jealous of everyone else in this situation - including the android with a cracked open chassis. 

“I purchased a pizza that would satisfy both of your tastes,” Nines says. He opens the box and, sure enough, there’s a pepperoni pizza staring back at him. 

“Pepperoni, huh,” Hank says, appreciatively. “Classic.” 

“Aint nothin’ wrong with that,” Gavin agrees. As truces go, it’s a pretty solid one. 

A woman wearing modified nursing scrubs steps out into the lobby and says “RK800? We’re ready for you. Do you require assistance to get to the repair suite?”

Hank stands but Connor waves him off. “I’m ok, Hank. No, I don’t need assistance walking to the repair suite.” Connor levers himself up, obviously favoring his side, his hand pressed protectively over it. Gavin marvels at how lifelike the androids are. He wonders if it was someone else’s suggestion, or if Elijah came up with himself. 

He covers up his worry by taking a slice of pizza. It’s thin and greasy and perfect. 

“How is this pizza so good?” He wonders out loud. Hank groans appreciatively and points at him. Fuckin’ millenials. 

“I searched for the pizzeria with the highest ratings,” Nines says, his voice carrying an undertone that accuses Gavin of being an idiot. 

Hank reaches over and clamps his hand on Nines’s shoulder. “You did good, kid.” Gavin can see the way that Nines seems to preen under the praise. It opens up conflicting, twinned fires in his gut - the desire to make Nines look like that and jealousy that he didn’t. 

“Thanks,” Gavin says. Hank’s eyes Gavin a little suspiciously, but Gavin just focuses on the pizza in front of him. Gavin’s phone pings with an incoming message. He ignores it. 

“You’re very welcome, Gavin. I paid for it with your credit card.” Hank snorts and chokes a little, looking over at Gavin like he might explode. 

Gavin just smiles and takes another bite.

\--  
Connor is fine. He didn’t get a lot of particulate in his pump, thanks to Gavin’s advice, so they were able to vacuum it out pretty easily and patch him up. Gavin catches a cab back to the precinct, so he can pick up his car. He’s surprised when Nines follows him. 

In the car, Nines sets the GPS to take them to Hank’s house. Gavin doesn’t protest. 

“Anderson gonna be pissed he’s got an extra guest?” Gavin asks instead. He isn’t gonna stay where he isn’t welcome, but he understands if Nines doesn’t want to be alone right now. Weird that he chose to be with Gavin instead of going home with Connor, but Gavin won't’ judge him. 

“Hank knows you’re coming.” Gavin raises his eyebrows, but doesn’t say anything. Nines plays with the sleeve of his henley - one of the ones that Gavin bought him - and doesn’t say anything else on the ride out. 

Nines unlocks the door with a physical key, which Gavin should have suspected. Hank meets them in the living room and seems totally unperturbed to have someone he’s professed to dislike in his home. 

“Reed, you need sleep clothes?” Gavin looks at him in surprise, eyes wide. Then turns his head at a normal speed to eye Nines. The line of Nines’s shoulders is tense, so Gavin guesses he’s staying.

“Guess so.” He says. Hank nods and heads into his bedroom. He comes back with a pair of soft-worn sweatpants and a heavy metal t-shirt from the 2010s. Gavin looks at it a little askance and then decides to just embrace the weirdness. 

“Can I take a shower?” The adrenalin sweat is starting to stink even to his own nose. 

Hank points down the hall. “Help yourself.”

Gavin pointedly doesn’t think about the chain of events that led him to be here, in Hank Anderson’s shower and about to sleep somewhere currently undecided in his house. He hears a thump and something scratches at the door. There’s a muffled yell of “Sumo!” and then the scratching stops. 

When he steps out of the bathroom, he heads toward the living room. Connor is on the floor, legs akimbo with a giant fuck off dog’s paws on his shoulders, his massive rump planted between Connor’s thighs. Connor’s fingers comb through the thick fur at the dog’s neck. The dog licks Connor’s face enthusiastically while Connor laughs. 

“Sumo,” Connor laughs, “Sumo stop!” Sumo does not stop and Connor does not stop laughing. Nines sits behind him on the couch, his knee pressed against Connor’s shoulder and a soft smile on his face. 

Gavin didn’t even know that Nines could smile like that. Even more than before, he feels like an interloper. What is he doing here? Why didn’t he fight coming here? 

Nines looks up at him, hands tucked in the front pocket of his soft looking grey hoodie. His feet are bare beneath matching gray sweatpants. Nines pulls one of his hands out of his pocket and holds it out to Gavin, waving him forward. 

“Come here,” he says. He pats the couch cushion next to him and Gavin shunts forward, as if pulled by invisible strings. Sumo turns his head, tongue lolling out. He boofs softly, and Gavin lets Sumo snuffle happily at his hand before scratching behind his ears. 

When he sits next to Nines on the couch, Nines tips his whole body towards Gavin, pushing their shoulders together. It would be incredibly comfortable, if he weren’t hyper aware of the fact that he’s in Hank’s house, cuddling with his android sons.

Hank walks through and hands him a bottle of water. He doesn’t give off any vibes that he thinks Gavin shouldn’t be here. 

“Thanks.” He tips the bottle up at Hank, cracks the cap and chugs half of it in one go. He wipes his mouth on the back of his hand and rests the bottle on his knee so it doesn’t leave a ring on the end table next to the couch. He can’t find the coasters.

Connor continues to let Sumo lick his face and Nines watches Connor with the softest eyes Gavin has ever seen. His right arm feels awkward, squished between his and Nines’s thighs. He tries to shift away, but Nines wiggles closer. Gavin’s arm starts to fall asleep and he pulls it out from between them in desperation. He has no clue what to do with it now, so in equal desperation, he wraps it around Nines’s shoulders. 

Nines turns that soft look on Gavin. Something in Gavin’s chest squeezes. Nines’s mouth is curved, eyes half lidded and dark like that night at Niko’s. Gavin wants to kiss him right here, on Hank’s couch, with Connor at their feet being drowned in St. Bernard drool. Gavin licks his bottom lip and then catches it with his teeth. 

“Gavin,” Nines says. Gavin has gotten pretty good at parsing Nines’s tone of voice, but this is… not a tone he’s heard before. “Would you like to go to sleep?” Gavin sucks in a surprised breath and realizes it must be after midnight. He has to be at work in 6 hours. 

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” He doesn’t want to. He wants to stay in the comfortable cocoon of sweatpants Nines and dog spit Connor. He doesn’t make any motions to move and neither does Nines. Connor’s laughter has died to a happy hum, almost subvocal, while he strokes Sumo’s ruff. Sumo, for his part, has at least stopped licking Connor’s face and is content to be petted. 

Gavin tips his head over onto Nines’s, too tired to put a name to the comfort he feels. He can feel himself drift, but doesn’t realize he’s asleep until he’s jostled awake by Connor. 

“Whuh?” he asks eloquently. His leg is cold; his hand is still in Connor’s hair. Connor must have laid his head on his leg - but why? Androids don’t sleep. Gavin pulls his hand away and rubs it on his borrowed sweats. 

Nines is looking at Connor. He’s at the wrong angle to see if his LED is flickering, but he can see Connor’s. That combined with the intense look on both their faces - he knows they’re talking. He finds the water bottle - knocked down between his leg and the arm of the loveseat - and drinks the rest. 

Connor’s LED flashes briefly red, his mouth turning down. Nines tenses under Gavin’s arm, then relaxes. Connor smiles at Nines and then turns it on Gavin. 

“Nines will show you where you can sleep.” His voice is soft, but the core of it is hard as steel. 

Gavin flicks his eyes between Connor’s face and Nines’s profile. He pulls his arm away from Nines’s shoulder. He moves to stand, his posture sighing where his breathing won’t. 

Nines holds his hand out to Gavin to help him up off the couch. 

The trip to the spare room feels like it happens in another universe. Gavin is not quite awake until they hit the door, then he comes awake all at once. 

“This is Connor’s room,” Nines says. “He’s the one with the bed, since he got here first.”

“Uhm,” Gavin says, eloquently. 

“Don’t worry. He doesn’t use it for much. We don’t need to power down that often, and Connor got a re-up during the repairs.”

“But what about - “ Gavin wants to ask about Nines’s room. Wants to ask about what Nines and Connor are going to be doing all night. 

“Just go to sleep, Gavin.” Gavin sits obediently on the bed. The room is very tidy, but he can only see the broad strokes in the light from the hallway. A dresser, a full-sized bed with a homey looking quilt - a corkboard with papers pinned to it. Gavin wonders what they are - are they pictures or case notes? 

“What did you and Connor fight about?” Nines’s head turns toward Gavin in the dark. 

“We did not fight.” 

“Yeah, ok. You had some very intense negotiation going on when I woke up and then Connor looked like he won. Bet neither of you wanted me to sleep in your room.” Gavin is used to being the last kid picked in gym class, so there’s no bitterness to his voice. Just a hint of feeling it underneath. 

“Connor and I disagreed on who got the privilege of tucking you in.” It’s wry, like he’s not telling Gavin the whole story. “Connor insisted that it be me.” 

“Lucky you.” Gavin laughs. He tilts his head back. Somehow it’s just his luck that his hair falls into his eyes when he does. Nines reaches up and brushes the hair away. 

“Yes.” He agrees. “Lucky me.” 

“Nines.” Gavin says. He feels like if he doesn’t say something he’s going to burst, but he can’t quite figure out what he wants to say. “Is Connor trying to set us up?” He ends up blurting.

“I believe so.” Nines says. He shifts his weight and Gavin looks up at him. The light from the hallway highlights his cheekbones and the eyelashes of his right eye. Gavin wants to kiss him. 

“Are you going to let him?” 

Nines’s tongue flicks out, wetting his bottom lip with synthetic spit and Gavin sucks in a breath. He can feel it in every line of his body: Nines is going to kiss him. He wants Nines to kiss him. Gavin licks his own bottom lip and waits for Nines’s answer.

“No.” He leans forward into Gavin’s space. Standing like he is, he has to hunch over. If he had a spine, Gavin would be worried about it. Gavin scoots back on the bed and Nines put his knee between Gavin’s thighs. This brings them more of a height. 

“This doesn’t feel like a no, Nines.” Gavin laughs. He can feel his own breath bounce off Nines’s skin and back onto his face. It shouldn’t be working for him, but it kind of is. 

“Connor is trying to set me up with you, Gavin.” Nines leans down to whisper in Gavin’s ear. “I have a different goal in mind.” 

“Yeah? What’s that?” He turns his face so his nose brushes against Nines’s jaw. Nines leans into it a little.

“Mmm. Connor and I both want you. Connor doesn’t see it, but I know you want us back.” Gavin almost jerks away in surprise, but Nines grabs his jaw and holds him in place. Close. 

Gavin can’t quite make his mouth form full words, so he just squeaks. He’s torn between dreadfully confused and turned on. 

“Don’t you Gavin?” Gavin makes a noise back in his throat. Nines is very close. Nines moves Gavin’s face a little as if to jostle him into answering. 

“Yes.” he finally chokes out. 

“Good.” Nines’s thumb strokes Gavin’s jaw. It calms Gavin down a little, not quite so heightened. “Do you want this, Gavin?” Gavin nods his head. “Out loud for me, Gavin.” 

“Yes, Nines. Please kiss me already.” 

“Soon, Gavin. One more thing.” Gavin almost whimpers. Nines looks so beautiful up close. Gavin tries desperately to think of something other than Nines’s warm thigh between his own. He’s going to murder Eli. “Can I share this with Connor?” Huh? His hands fist in the quilt behind him. Is this a joke? 

“What?” Gavin does pull away this time, leaning back to see if he can get a full look of what’s on Nines’s face. He can’t, just the shape of his mouth. 

“After I tuck you in, I want to go downstairs and share this with Connor.”

“What, like, this conversation?” 

“Yes, but also what it feels like to kiss you. He will get a chance later, if you both agree, but I want to share this first kiss with him.” 

“You really love him, huh?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t agree to share him with you if I didn’t.” Gavin notices the phrasing. They’ll always be an inseparable pair. Foils, brothers - twins. Gavin may be in this relationship, whatever it is or might be in the future, but he’s under no illusions about who comes first. Of course, he agrees with the assessment - Nines and Connor are more important than he is, there’s no disputing the facts. 

“Sure, yes. Please kiss me and then share it with your weird android brother.” 

“Connor and I are hardly brothers,” Nines argues, but he leans into Gavin. He's looking over Gavin on the bed now and Gavin's brain is shoring up it's defenses trying not to melt of his ears 

“Mmmhmm,” Gavin hums, tilting his head back. It would be a good look for him if Nines couldn't see in the dark to know that he looks wrung out and half dead. Affection and humor twine together warmly in his chest. 

“Gavin,” Nines says, so close that his lips brush against Gavin’s. This is kissing isn’t it? Technically? It must be. Their lips are touching? Something in Gavin is preventing himself from throwing himself at Nines like he normally does. Maybe he doesn’t want Connor to think he’s a slut. 

“Yes, Nines?” And then they’re kissing. Nines’s mouth is cool against Gavin’s chapped lips. Gavin has half a thought about thirium based spit and thinks hysterically about the hallucinogenic properties of the first version of thirium. 

This can’t be happening. Nines is kissing him. His mouth is plush and soft - a stark contrast to the hard line it takes most of the time. When Gavin presses closer and opens his mouth, Nines follows suit. They kiss like that, open and wet for a while, until Gavin can feel Nines’s mouth warm against his with his own body heat. 

Gavin’s tongue flicks out to brush against the corner of Nines’s mouth and Nines lets out a bitten off whimper. Gavin grins into the kiss and does it again, flicking his tongue over Nines’s top lip, under his top teeth, to the right side. He does it again on this side. Nines’s jaw falls open a little more and Gavin takes that for an invitation. He tastes the smooth inside of Nines’s mouth, the perfect ridges of his fake teeth. Nines shivers; Gavin internally cheers. 

Gavin can see the light of Nines’s LED flicker yellow for a flash and then go solidly red. He pulls away. “Nines?” He looks up at Nines through his lashes. The light from the hallway is perfectly angled now, to show the blissful, overwhelmed look on Nines’s face. 

“Hey.” Gavin says. For the first time tonight, he touches Nines’s face. Nines’s eyes fly open, then immediately close halfway. Gavin admires the way that his pupils are blown - from the dark room or passion, Gavin can only hope that it’s both, half flattered, half reasonable. “It’s late.” 

Nines visibly reels himself back. “Of course.” He half looks away and Gavin strokes his thumb under the soft skin under his eyes. 

“That’s not what I mean. I have to be at work in,” he looks at his wrist even though he isn’t wearing a watch, “ugh four hours.” Gavin sighs. He hates being a responsible adult. “10 out of 10. Would love to continue this at a later date.” He pats Nines’s cheek. 

Now that the high is wearing off, he can feel the tidal wave of sleep pulling him under. He flops back on the bed dramatically and yawns, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. “Go on. Share with Connor. I’ll see you both in the morning.” Nines pets his hair. Gavin pulls the quilt out from under the pillow and shoves his legs under it. It’s soft flannel underneath, not quite what he’d expect for an android, but it suits Connor perfectly. 

Gavin lays back against the pillows, tries to adjust them to be comfortable, but gives up halfway through, too tired to fight it. 

Nines leans forward to kiss him again. Gavin kisses back, tiredly, his mouth open and wet. Nines licks at his mouth, seemingly intent. Gavin groans when he pulls away. 

“Good night, Gavin. Sleep well.” 

“Alarm,” he says muzzily. 

“Already set.” Nines says fondly. 

Gavin falls asleep before Nines is out of the room.

\--

(May 6)

It’s been a long day of following up leads on Connor’s slasher - the only lead that they have is that he was an android and stopped when he got a good look at Connor’s face - so Gavin is not expecting Connor to corner him in the bathroom. 

“Gavin,” Connor says. Gavin looks up into the mirror to see Connor standing behind him. His eyes are dark. He’s wearing a dark blue cable knit sweater that Gavin picked out. It still looks soft enough to touch and Connor looks softer for it. Approachable. 

“Hi, Connor.” He says, like it isn’t weird that Connor has followed him into the bathroom and is watching him wash his hands. “What’s up?” 

“We need to talk about what happened last night.” A lot happened last night. It could be anything. Gavin is aware that Connor is talking about the kiss. 

“Which part?” 

“After Nines came back from tucking you in.” There it is again. Tucking him in, like he’s a little kid. Or something precious. 

Gavin hums in agreement. He turns off the water, shakes his hands off a little over the sink. He steps back and breaks his view of the mirror to face Connor directly. The paper towel dispenser is right next to him, so he walks closer. “Is right now the right time to talk about this?” 

He wants to talk about the kiss Nines shared with him, Gavin is sure. Gavin tries to tamp down the hope that Connor wants to kiss him for himself. It’s probably just… curiosity or something. 

“No. I was wondering if you’d accompany me for a drink after shift.” 

“Sure, will Nines be joining us?” 

“He’s indisposed, I’m afraid.” Weird. But it isn’t like Gavin and Connor aren’t friends by now, after all. 

“3:30 then?”

“I’ll be waiting.” Connor is amused, teasing. 

Time moves, as it does, and soon enough it’s 3:25. Gavin is logging out of his terminal and picking up his keys when Connor appears next to his desk. 

“You’re early,” Gavin says, but there’s no accusation to it.

“I’ve been waiting for this, Gavin.” There’s an undercurrent to his voice that Gavin hadn’t previously believed that Androids could have. Excited, sultry, wanting. 

“Where did you want to grab that drink?” Gavin swallows. This is worse than Nines looming over him in the dark last night. 

“It’s a bit early for a bar, I was thinking maybe I could try some of the wine I bought you? Do you still have some?” Gavin had put it in the fridge and then never felt the occasion to open it, even though it’s been almost 2 months.

“I hadn’t opened it, no.” Is Connor… Is Connor trying to get him alone?

“Perfect.” Gavin slides into his jacket, jingles his keys in his hand. “Shall we?” Connor asks. Gavin shrugs. He leads the way to his car and unlocks the doors. 

“You know,” Connor says, once they’re settled in and on their way to Gavin’s house. “You’re not what I expected.” 

“No fuckin kidding.” Gavin says. He’s replaying all the ways in which he’s fucked up in front of Connor. Trying to kill him, to push him, to make him see that hunting deviants wasn’t going to fix anything at all. Wasn’t he certain an hour ago that Connor was going to kiss him? 

“You really are quite surprising, Gavin Reed.” There’s an approving lilt to his voice. “You’ve changed a lot in the time I’ve known you.” 

“You haven’t known me all that long. I haven’t changed that much.” 

“You pointed a gun at me last November.” He holds his hands out as if to say “no gun in sight here.” As if that proves his point that Gavin has changed. 

As if not threatening someone somehow makes them “better” or “changed” or whatever. It doesn’t matter that Gavin hadn’t wanted to hurt Connor when he’d done it, that all he’d wanted was to make Connor see. To scare him into realizing that he could be a whole person - that he was a whole person all along. That he was more than his coding.

“No changing the facts.” Gavin shrugs. 

“Did you want to hurt me?” 

“No.” Gavin says simply. 

Connor doesn’t say anything else for the rest of the drive. It isn’t forgiveness, but it does feel like acceptance. Everyone has done things they aren’t proud of. 

Connor seems to get more agitated the closer they get to Gavin’s house. Gavin can’t pretend he doesn’t know what it’s about. 

Connor shadows him as he unlocks the door, only a half-step behind him at any given time. 

“I’m not going to run away,” Gavin says, settling his keys into the bowl on the dresser in the foyer. “I’m right here.” He turns in the hallway and stops. Connor moves to follow him around the corner, and almost runs into him. 

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Connor says. He bites his lip and it’s so cute - so human. Warmth spreads in Gavin’s chest. He’s got the bomber jacket on today so all Gavin wants to do is slide his arms between his shirt and jacket and pull him closer. His palms itch. 

“Did you and Nines have a good talk last night?” Gavin asks, curiosity finally getting the better of him. He crosses his arms and leans against the hallway. Connor’s face goes surprised and then flushed in a split second. His tongue peeks out and licks his top lip, a sweet nervous habit that Gavin would happily watch forever. 

Connor huffs out a breath that he doesn’t need and says “Talk. Yeah.” A knowing smile curls on his mouth. He steps a half-step closer into Gavin’s space. Gavin doesn’t back away. 

“Did you do a little bit more than talking?” Nines had said that he was going to share their kiss with Connor. Had they done that? Had they done more? 

“Gavin,” Connor says. His eyes are staring at Gavin’s mouth, hungry. Hunger on a face that has never known what hungry means. It’s exhilarating. 

“Did you and Nines do the thing?” Gavin lifts his hand and waggles his fingers by way of explanation. 

“No.” Gavin straightens his spine a little, bracing for something. “He offered, but I didn’t want to spoil it.”

“Spoil what?” Gavin asks. There’s only so many things it could be, but Gavin is still genuinely confused. How could you spoil a kiss? It's not milk you can leave out too long.

“This.” Connor touches Gavin’s jaw, the synthetic skin peeling away as he does. Gavin can tell in the slightly rubbery silicone feel of his fingers against his jawline. Connor’s thumb brushes against Gavin’s bottom lip. Gavin licks his lip, careful not to touch his tongue to Connor’s thumb - a tease.

Connor uses his thumb to keep Gavin’s jaw open and presses his mouth against Gavin’s. For all that Connor and Nines have the same mouth, their kisses are nothing alike. Connor kisses like he’s drowning and Gavin’s mouth is his only hope to stay above water. 

Gavin makes a weak sound in the back of his throat and grabs onto Connor’s jacket sleeve to keep himself upright. Connor encourages him by settling his hand in the small of Gavin’s back. Connor takes advantage of the small gasp Gavin sucks in to lick into his mouth. 

Connor pulls back, much to Gavin’s dismay. He doesn’t go far, but Gavin tightens his fist in the sleeve of Connor’s jacket anyway. Connor does the same to the back of Gavin’s shirt. They stand there for a while, dazed and panting - well, Gavin is panting, at least. Connor is so warm. Why had Nines been so cold? He’d been wearing sweats. 

Connor’s smile is almost blinding this close. He hums instead of saying anything. Gavin can’t think of anything to say either. Connor presses his forehead to the side of Gavin’s head, where he presses a small, delicate kiss to the fragile skin on Gavin’s cheekbone. 

It makes Gavin want to turn his face away; it’s too much. 

“So, if you and Nines didn’t share the memory of Nines tucking me in last night, what did you talk about?” Gavin says instead. 

Connor chuckles. He presses his nose into Gavin’s hairline, then says “Nines told me that I was being an idiot.” 

Gavin barks out a laugh too. “He did what now?”

“He pointed out that I was being stupid. Rightfully so.” Connor pulls back and smiles at Gavin.

“Stupid about what?” 

“I had not considered the possibility of polygamy.” The smile is still on his mouth, knowing and warm.

“Nines had us both there.” Gavin chuckles. “Though in my defense, I wasn’t really thinking about trying for a relationship with either of you.” 

“Were you not?” Connor asks, seemingly surprised. 

“I’m not exactly a catch.” Especially for an android. Especially for an android whom he had threatened to murder. Or that android’s brother-figure. Or both of them at the same time. God, Gavin needs a drink. 

“Gavin!” Connor starts firmly, the way you’d warn an animal chewing on plastic at 3 am. Gavin is reminded of being scolded by his parents, very early in his childhood. 

“How ‘bout that wine, huh?” Gavin can hear the awkward rise of his own voice. Connor doesn’t mention it though, just carefully extricates himself from Gavin’s personal space and heads toward the kitchen. 

He’s ducked in the fridge to pull out the wine when Gavin’s collected himself enough to follow. He grabs a glass and is ready with it when Connor turns around to pour it. It really is nothing fancy - not even a cork, just a twist top bc he’s a basic bitch like that. Connor pours him some and Gavin swirls it around a little. 

Connor cups his hand around Gavin's under the glass. His hand is cold from holding the bottle and it makes Gavin shiver. 

"So uh…" Gavin starts. He's trying to think of something to talk about and failing. "How 'bout them Mets?" 

"You do not care about sports." Connor's tone is warm and amused. His hand is warming up. Gavin still hasn't taken a drink.

"I could!" Gavin defends, but his laugh undercuts the argument. 

"In addition, the Mets disbanded in 2025. Would you care for a sports update from the news, Gavin?" 

"Absolutely not, that sounds boring as hell." 

Connor looks smug at that and Gavin can't blame him. He realizes that they're still standing in his kitchen and has a flashback to Nines snooping in his fridge. Maybe he does more than just eat here now. 

Yesterday at this time, Connor was sliced open. Yesterday at this time, Gavin hadn’t kissed Nines, hadn’t kissed Connor. He’d been content to quietly pine. 

That was yesterday. 

Gavin tugs Connor in by the lapel of his jacket - the leather buttery smooth in his fingers - and kisses Connor again. His mouth is so warm. Connor kisses like he wants to crawl in Gavin’s skin, desperate and hungry and wanting. Gavin can’t blame him; he’s all of those things too. 

Connor takes hold of his wrist and pulls Gavin away from the counter, towards the living room. Gavin goes to put down the glass of wine, but Connor stops him. Gavin shrugs and goes along with it.

He’s led to the couch, urged into a sitting position with gentle pushes. He expects Connor to sit next to him. Instead, he shrugs off his jacket and throws it on the chair sitting catty-corner to the couch. Gavin only has a half second to appreciate how cool that was before his attention is drawn back to Connor. 

Connor curls his hand around Gavin’s on the glass of wine again and kneels on the couch with his right knee. He tips the cup towards Gavin’s mouth, so he takes an obliging sip. Before he can swallow, quick as a flash, Connor is in his lap and the wine is safely placed on the side table. Gavin swallows the wine almost out of reflex. Then, Connor kisses him - if it can be called that at all. Connor licks the alcohol out of Gavin’s mouth until there’s no trace of it left. 

“So, that’s wine.” Connor says. “It’s… interesting.” 

“I like it,” Gavin says, slightly breathless. 

Connor looks at him, eyes wide and dark and bottomless. His mouth is wet, but only as pink as it was made to be. He puffs out a couple of hot breaths, probably to cool down the processors tied directly to the forensics lab in his mouth. Gavin rests his hands at Connor’s waist, hooking his fingers through his belt loops just to give him something to hold onto.

After a couple of seconds, he kisses Gavin again with the same fervor as before. When the kiss is over, he doesn’t pull away, instead, brushing his nose against Gavin’s. “I like the taste of you better than the wine.” The murmur against his lips is hushed, intimate. 

Gavin can barely put two words together. “That so?” 

Connor kisses him again and then says, “Yes. Got a taste last night when Nines kissed me but it wasn’t enough.” Oh, Gavin thinks, dumbfounded. That’s hot. 

“And now?” Connor smiles into the next kiss. It’s answer enough for Gavin.  
\--  
(May 7th) 

Gavin wakes 15 minutes before his alarm. He's comfortably warm and doesn’t want to open his eyes again. Take a shower, he reasons with himself. If he showers now, he can space out and process. 

He starfishes in his bed, stretching his arms and legs until he can feel the cramp in his leg. He freezes and groans, then stretches the cramp out again. Fuck he’s getting old. 

Gavin rolls over on his stomach, scooting his butt over the side of the bed. His feet hit the floor, and he finally pushes himself upright with his arms. The floor is cool beneath his bare feet. His head is blissfully empty as he gathers clothes to wear for today and trudge to the shower. 

The hiss of the shower is a comforting blur as he gathers the washrag and towel so that they’ll be ready for him. 

He dumps his clothes on the back of the toilet and steps out of his sleep clothes. By the time he steps in the shower, the water is as hot as he likes it. He could have hot water immediately if he had a tankless water heater, but he hadn’t been prepared to look at them when he’d replaced it the last time and now there’s no need to replace it until this one breaks. For now, he’s got about twenty minutes of hot water and a lot of stuff to process. 

The hot water loosens the tight muscles in his shoulders and soothes the back of his neck where it's sore. Steam rises off his skin, the sides of his shower, and the floor. He tips his head forward and lets his mind go blank for a minute. 

He bites his lip, aggravating how sore his mouth is from kissing Connor. God, kissing Connor. They’d kissed so long last night that Gavin’s jaw aches and his mouth sore. He's sure if he looked in the mirror, his lips would be puffy and red.

Connor’s hands had been so warm on his shoulders and neck and arms. He’d threaded their fingers together and stroked his thumb across his hand and been devastatingly affectionate. 

He hadn’t thought that he’d wanted that, but it had been so long since he’d tried. There was a long, long time where he’d hated himself so thoroughly that no one else could love him either. Last night had been nice. 

Gavin wanted it to happen again. And that's the fucking kicker isn't it. He had to be vulnerable. He wanted to be vulnerable.

Shit.

\--

Nines knows that something is bothering Gavin, but like a good partner, he keeps his mouth shut about it until they clock out for the day. 

"We need to talk." Nines says. Despite the fact that Gavin had been planning to say those exact words in that exact configuration to Nines half a second ago, his stomach slicks with fear. 

"Yeah." He responds, hoping that it's somewhat casual and not at all pitchy. "Connor?" He asks. If they're gonna talk about relationship stuff, it only makes sense to have all three of them there.

"He is picking up a snack for you." 

"He's grabbing me a what now?" 

"A snack." And that's still as nonsensical as the first time Nines said it. 

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" And ok, yeah, Gavin's a little hungry, but they can talk without him eating first, right?

"Your mood is inextricably linked to your meal schedule. You are hungry now and that makes you irritable. Connor and I agree that a snack would improve your mood and make you more receptive to the conversation we are going to have." 

"So, what. You're gonna get me a juice box and some cheezits so that I'll be a compliant little bitch while you and Connor talk about me?" Nines's eyes go flinty. 

"Is that what you want?"

Gavin splutters."Of course not."

Nines nods, and hums a little to himself. When had he started doing that?

"I am not taking your current mood personally, Gavin. I know that you are hungry and tired, which is negatively affecting our current interaction." Gavin has to give him points there. He's being a little shit, but it's like he can't stop himself. He doesn't want to be, but he opens his mouth and asshole pours out. He also knows that Nines's patience is a short stick, so to be granted any means that this matters. Gavin matters. Fuck. "Connor is going to meet us at the harbor with a snack for you. You're going to eat it." As if he wouldn't. "And then we are all going to talk."

Gavin gulps. "About our feelings?" 

Nines looks at him, a small, proud tilt to his mouth. "Yes, Gavin. About our feelings." That makes heat race along Gavin's spine. 

\--

It turns out that Connor's idea of 'a snack' is like four snacks all at once. He brought an individual serving of hummus and crackers, an apple, a bottle of water, a small selection of deli sandwiches on rolls, and some kettle cooked potato chips. He hands Gavin the bag with a smile. Then Nines and Connor don't say anything until he's eaten all of the hummus and is halfway through the apple. 

"Nines mentioned that you wanted to talk?" Connor's hand is next to Gavin's thigh on the bench. The waves splash comfortingly on the background. The sun is setting behind them, so Connor, when he looks, is bathed in red gold light and gorgeous. Nines, when he turns to look accusingly, is just as ethereal and beautiful. 

"I want it on record that Nines said we needed to talk first." 

Nines arches an eyebrow at him but says nothing. 

"But you're right. I did want to talk to you. Both. I wanted to talk to both of you. At the same time." Fuck this is already just as awkward as he imagined it would be. Gavin flushes, admits to himself that the snack did help, and goes on. "You both seemed pretty comfortable with me, but I wanted to make sure that…" Gavin scrapes at the wood bench with his thumbnail and Connor covers Gavin's hand with his own. 

"There's no rush, Gavin." Nines says. 

"I mean, there is a little bit? You took me to a park that closes at full dark? And the sunset is casting particularly gorgeous light on the water, so we are kind of on a time limit here." Connor taps his fingers on Gavin's hand, and Gavin goes on, feeling chastised. "But yeah. I know. I just don't want to spend a whole lot of my time wondering if I'm going to have to split my time? Nines, you made it pretty clear that you want a relationship with Connor and I both. And I think Connor and I are on the same page with that." He pauses, just to let either of them contradict him. They both nod in the corners of his vision. Connor squeezes his hand comfortingly. 

"I just… wanted to make sure that you both knew that I wanted both of you too. And not like, separate? Together." He takes a steadying breath. "Though, obviously, we can't be all together all the time and that's fine. I just don't want either of you to think that I don't want whatever time we can have together, whenever we can have it." God, why are feelings so embarrassing. Gavin continues to stare out at the darkening water. It's not cold yet, but it will be soon. Gavin better get to the goddamned point. "I just. I want you both. And if you want some alone time from me, God knows everyone does, just let me know." 

"That was good, Gavin." Nines says. His hand finally settling on Gavin's back. Gavin wasn't aware he'd been waiting for it, but now that he has it, he knows what that squirming, unidentifiable unease was. Gavin lets out a sigh, settling into this new contact. 

Connor squeezes his hand again, and says, "Thank you for being honest with us, Gavin. Nines and I have discussed this at length and we are on much the same page. While we want to primarily be together as a trio, we also want to spend time in pairs as work and free time allows. We can draw up a schedule if you want something formal?" 

"I don't know from one minute to the next how I'm going to feel about company." It's true enough. He's not used to people demanding his time away from work. Except - he realizes now that Nines and Connor have insinuated themselves pretty seamlessly into his life so far. "But uh, if you want to spend time together, just ask. You've been doing alright so far. I just…" he hesitates. "I don't want to get into this and realize two months in that I'm accidentally favoring one of you over the other. Don't let me do that, ok?" Don't let me realize two months in that what you really wanted was each other and you only wanted me as a buffer. 

Connor and Nines look at each other and Gavin knows by the way that Connor blinks that they're texting each other. "Agreed. If we want to spend more time with you, we will ask to do so before making assumptions." 

"One more thing?" Gavin asks. He's got to ask now, while he's being vulnerable. Nines and Connor turn their attention toward him seriously. "If you're gonna talk, do it where I can fuckin hear you." Nines leans back, but doesn't pull his hand away. Conor tips forward and laughs. 

"Gavin, you absolute asshole." Nines says. 

"Yeah, let's not forget who we're dealing with here." Gavin says. But he can't wipe the smile off his face. 

\--  
(May 25)

They arrive at the scene and before the beat cops can even give them any information about the vic, an android starts towards them. Gavin notices their approach, but it isn’t until the android is standing next to the police officer that he really pays attention to them. 

The android sticks out their hand for a handshake. Gavin almost takes it before he realizes what’s happening. The android sees him flinch and smiles. 

“Hi! I’m Isaac.” He says to Gavin. 

“Hi. Uhm, thanks? Who the fuck are you?” Gavin asks. Isaac has a very wide smile and too-bright eyes. Even on an android this is the look of manic energy. The look turned on him makes his skin crawl. 

“Hello, Isaac.” Nines says. Isaac’s face immediately locks onto Nines’s face and somehow gets even more intense. Gavin has gone from having a bad feeling about this kid to fight or flight. 

Isaac reaches his hand out toward Nines and Gavin grabs his wrist instead, turning his arm back and pinning it behind his back. 

“Isaac,” he says into the android’s ear, “this is an active crime scene. So unless you have information you’d be willing to share to help us with our investigation, you’re free to go.” 

He gives Isaac a little shove away and Isaac stumbles. He turns, narrows his eyes and says “I’m sure you’ll figure it out on your own, Detective Reed.” 

Gavin tries to stop himself from shuddering as the android walks away. 

From beside him, Nines asks “What the fuck was that about?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next: a rating bump, whoo! Kudos / Comments water my crops.


	4. Your affection and your friction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sex! Nines, Gavin and Connor have so much sex. June through August on the timeline.  
> Chapter Title from Hook Line & Sinker by Royal Blood.

(June 1st)

When Gavin comes back from his shower, Connor is already fucking Nines. Connor looks over his shoulder at Gavin, his mouth curved in a smug smile when he takes in Gavin’s wet hair, the towel around his neck. 

Gavin’s brain is torn between being jealous and turned on. “Oh for fuck’s sake.” Gavin’s mouth says. His brain still hasn’t caught up to the sight of Nines spread out, backing himself up on Connor’s cock and moaning. “You horny bastards.” 

Connor’s sly smile turns into a full on grin and without turning to look at Nines, he slaps his hand on Nine’s ass. Nines chokes and keens pressing back into Connor’s hips, chasing the sensation. “Jealous?” Connor asks. There’s a little buzz around the words, a testament to how Nines is affecting him. 

“Jesus,” Gavin says again. “Of course.” Connor runs his hand down Nines’s back. Nines arches up into the touch, their synthskin rippling. Connor’s white hand settles on Nines’s shoulder, pulling him up with a vicious thrust of his hips. Nines is already nodding before Connor starts talking, so he knows it’s for show when Connor asks “Do you want to suck him off while I fuck you?” 

That doesn’t make it any less devastating. Nines nod his head fervently, mouth open, eyes slanted toward Gavin. He lifts his arms and twines his fingers in Connor’s hair, pulling his head forward so they can kiss over his shoulder. 

“Fuck.” Gavin is still rooted to the spot in the doorway. 

“Mmmm,” Connor hums, breaking the kiss and nosing his way along Nines’s shoulder. He bites Nines’s ear - not a particularly sensitive spot for him, but Nines arches into it anyway. “That’s the plan.” 

Nines says “Get the fuck over here,” in the same tone that he uses to tell Gavin to eat something or do his paperwork. Gavin has been trained to obey that tone of voice so he does. 

Gavin puts his knee on the bed before he realizes that he has to take off the sweats he’d put on after his bath. He backs away to pull them off and Gavin can practically hear Nines pout. 

“Impatient,” he says fondly. He pushes them down over his hips and his half hard dick. Nines unclenches one of his hands from Connor’s hair and reaches out to Gavin. He opens and closes his hand at Gavin and Gavin almost laughs at Nines making grabby hands at him. 

Gavin climbs up onto the bed and Nines tips forward to reach for him. As soon as he’s in reach, Gavin finds himself pulled into a kiss. Gavin puts his hand over Connor’s on Nines’s shoulder. Connor lifts his index finger to hook over Gavin’s. It’s a small, intimate thing, but to Gavin it feels huge. Gavin flexes his hand on Nine’s shoulder and kisses Nines deeper. Nine’s mouth on his is hot - processors overworked and compensating by dumping heat wherever they can - and Gavin groans into it. How did he get so fucking lucky?

He feels a warm hand on the back of his neck, but the two hands on his hips are obviously Nines’s, so it must be Connor. It’s so sweet that his gut clenches and his cock bobs up, eager to get in on the shenanigans. 

“That’s it.” Connor says, voice low. Gavin can feel his face flush. Nines kisses down his jaw and Gavin opens his eyes to see Connor’s eyes intent on his face. He reaches up to brush that one strand of hair that won’t stay perfectly coiffed away from his forehead. It immediately slides back into place, but Connor smiles. He clenches his hand in the short strands of hair at the nape of Gavin’s neck and tips his head back. 

Nines murmurs his appreciation, his kisses erratic and hurried between the rhythmic thrusts of Connor’s hips behind him. 

“Do you want to be good for us?” Connor murmurs into Nines’s ear. Gavin, of course, was meant to overhear. Gavin and Nines tremble in unison. 

Nines stops kissing Gavin’s chest to say “Yes,” all drawn out and desperate. Connor hums his approval and looks up at Gavin. Without saying anything, Gavin knows what he wants. 

Gavin cups his hand over Nines’s cheek and scoots back on the bed. He brushes his thumb over the corner of Nines’s mouth and even though Nines isn’t the one with the oral fixation, he sucks it into his mouth. 

“Fuck…” Gavin moans. He can feel his eyes fluttering shut. Nines’s mouth is hot and slick, sucking around his finger. He lets it go and Gavin rubs his thumb across Nines’s bottom lip before he pulls his hand away. He finishes scooting back on his knees and pulls his hand away from Connor's on his shoulder. 

Connor takes this moment to urge Nines down and Nines presses forward to press kisses along Gavin’s stomach on the way down. He can feel his stomach clench and tremble; a death machine presses barely there kisses along the small curve of it above his pelvis. 

“Hey.” Gavin says. Nines looks up at him through his lashes, biting his lip. “Just tap my leg or something if it’s too much, ok?” 

“I am capable of communicating with Connor without speech should I wish to change something, but your concern is noted and appreciated.” Nines smiles. The effect is immediately ruined by Connor thrusting his hips forward. Nines’s chin knocks into Gavin’s dick, smearing a dab of pre come across his jawline. Gavin wants to lick it off, but that’s not in the cards right now. 

Nines grabs Gavin’s cock to steady himself and gives it a stroke. Gavin cants his hips forward and for a brief, glorious second, Nines lets him fuck his hand just enough to push the head of his cock against Nines’s tongue. 

Then Nines’s hand is on his hip like iron, holding him in place. Nines sank his mouth around Gavin’s cock, hot and wet and perfect. Every thrust of Connor’s hips pushed Nines’s mouth forward and every roll back of Nines’s hips pulled it farther away. Gavin stays pinned by Nines’s hand with the perfect wet heat of Nines’s mouth sliding along his cock. It’s too much and not enough and torturously perfect. 

“That’s it.” Connor says. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it Nines.” Nines swallows around Gavin’s cock and they both whimper at the same time. Gavin threads his fingers through the hair on the back of Nines’s head just to give himself something to hang onto. Nines pushes his neck up into Gavin’s hand. 

“It feels good, doesn’t it Nines?” Connor says. Nines groans around Gavin’s cock, which makes Gavin gasp in a breath to steady himself. “Are you doing a good job sucking Gavin off?” Nines shakes, suspended between them. 

“Yes.” Gavin says, voice shaky. Connor meets Gavin’s eyes, his brown eyes dark and fathomless. He cants his hips forward and for a timeless moment, doesn’t pull back. Nines’s mouth is hot and perfect - no resistance or gag reflex. If Gavin didn’t know better, he’d say that it was made for fucking. 

“Are you going to come, Gavin?” Connor asks. His voice definitely doesn’t sound like he’s asking about the weather, but Gavin can’t place what his tone is. 

“Nnnn.” Gavin moans. Nines swallows around him, synthetic spit and precome mixing and drooling over Nines’s chin and down Gavin’s thighs. “Yessss.” 

“You hear that Nines? He’s going to come in your mouth.” Quick as a flash, Connor pulls back and then fucks Nines forward again. “You know what you’re supposed to do when he comes right?” 

For the first time, Nines tries to nod. Gavin makes a noise that he hopes conveys enough of a question for Connor to answer. 

“That’s good, Nines. Do you want me to tell Gavin what you wanted?” Nines nods again around a moan. Gavin doesn’t know what Connor is going to say, but he’s absolutely certain that he won’t be able to handle it. 

“You’re going to come in Nines’s mouth, Gavin.” Gavin whimpers. He knew that was probably what was going to happen, but hearing Connor say it like that makes him tremble. Like it’s inexorable. “And Nines is going to hold it in his mouth until I’m done with him.” Gavin is grateful for the way that Nines holds him up, because otherwise he’d have fallen down. . 

“Fuck.” Gavin says, unable to articulate anything more complicated than that. Nines’s fingers grip just a little tighter, so Gavin knows that he’s going to bruise. 

“That’s not the end of it, though, is it Nines?” Nines shakes his head. “What do you want to happen after?” He pulls away from Gavin's cock with an obscene noise. Gavin sighs and rubs his thumb on Nines’s bottom lip as he speaks.

Nines looks up into Gavin’s eyes, intense gaze hot but still somehow reticent. “Want you to kiss it out of my mouth.” Nines says. It takes Gavin a moment to realize that Nines isn’t addressing him. “Want you to taste it from my tongue and push it up inside me with your own. Wanna carry you both around with me.” Another moment to riddle that out and Gavin sways back a little. Oh, oh fuck.

“Nines.” Gavin says, punched out of his chest. He sucks in a breath and says “What the fuck, dude?” He reaches down to where Nines’s hands have settled on his thighs, and worms his fingers under Nines’s grasp. He squeezes them a little, a reassurance. 

Nines shrugs, a little smile on his face. Goddamned androids. No shame at all. Connor, the little shit, resumes fucking Nines at that. Nines deliberately whines in the back of his throat, looking up at Gavin through his lashes, mouth open and begging. 

“I hate you both.” Gavin says. 

“Noted.” Nines and Connor say in the same voice at the same time. Connor rolls his hips again, and Nines’s forehead pushes into Gavin’s stomach. 

“Oof, be careful there, horndogs.” Gavin says. Nines chuckles at him and slides his other hand down the outside of Gavin’s thigh and then back up the inside. Gavin shivers, it’s such a small touch but the tenderness of it seems to soothe rather than excite. He hums as he pets Nines’s hair. Nines presses his head into Gavin’s hand like a cat. Gavin rewards him by scritching his fingers along Nines’s scalp and pulling the hair at the crown of his head gently. 

“Gavin,” Nines says, voice staticky and desperate. “Want you.” He looks up at Gavin, eyes half lidded and though Gavin knows that it’s purely cosmetic, the sight of Nines’s pupils blown wide still hits him like a ton of bricks. 

“Baby. You got me.” Nines opens his mouth, his tone lolling obscenely. Gavin’s cock twitches toward his stomach. Nines whines in what Gavin can only assume is desperation. So he lets go of Nines’s other hand and uses his thumb to push his dick down to where Nines can get it in his mouth. 

Nines doesn’t waste any more time, letting Connor control the rhythm of the blowjob he’s giving Gavin. Gavin moans and lets it happen. He can feel the orgasm building in his gut, hot and coiling. Connor pulls Nines back and starts up a short, rolling rhythm that has Nines sucking on the head of Gavin’s cock. His mouth worshipful and plush and Gavin can’t take it any more. 

“Fuck, fuck, I’m gonna come soon.” He knows what Nines said, but saying a thing in the heat of the moment doesn’t always mean actually wanting to do it. 

“He says he’s ready whenever you are.” Connor says. Nines hums in agreement and flutters his eyelashes at Gavin, running his lips over the head of Gavin’s cock in a way that Gavin thought was really only just for show in porn. 

Gavin’s hips push forward of their own accord, and Nines’s grip keeps him from pushing too far as he comes into Nines’s mouth. 

When his brain is back online, he’s settled back on his heels, the backs of his knees uncomfortably sweaty. “Oh.” He says, dumbly. Nines’s face is on his thigh, his mouth firmly closed, but his eyes fluttering open every so often as Connor fucks him harder than he had been. Nines makes a noise, and for half a second, Gavin worries that he’s going to get come in his nose. Then he relalizes that Nines doesn’t have the same kind of sinus ducts that Gavin does, and feels incredibly stupid. 

His knees hurt, so he cups Nines’s head, thumb brushing over the apple of his cheek, flushed a fetching blue and says “My legs are going to cramp if I stay like this.” Nines opens his eyes, and Connor relents a little. Nines straightens up and Connor presses a chaste kiss to his mouth. Then he ruins the sweet moment by licking at the corner of Nines’s mouth with a wicked tongue. Nines makes a disapproving noise and Connor laughs. 

Gavin pulls one of his knees up with his hand, groaning in discomfort. When he goes to extend his leg, the joint catches and he hisses in pain before it releases, cracks and then straightens out. Once he’s sitting on his ass instead of his feet, his legs spread wide and a sheet pulled over his legs to dry them off a little, Nines presses his forehead into Gavin’s sternum. Connor is behind him, waiting with his cock in his hand, idly jerking off. 

Gavin pets Nines’s hair and Nines slowly bends down until his forehead is pressed into the top of Gavin’s hip. Gavin presses his hand into the center of Nines’s back. Nines presses further into Gavin’s hip, nodding frantically. Gavin strokes the hand from Nines’s hair down his neck and across his back. Nines makes a noise that sounds like a muffled “yes.” 

Connor groans, his eyes fixed on Gavin’s hands. Gavin scratches his nails up the line of what would be Nines’s spine. He shivers, pushes into it, arching his back. The view from Connor’s end must be obscene, with Nines’s ass pushed up in the air wanton and writhing. Gavin is comfortably tactile. 

Gavin spaces out a little, touching Nines’s back and hearing him groan. Logic tells him that Connor must have started fucking Nines at some point, but his memory can’t tell him when. It doesn’t matter, when this is all there is - Nines’s closed mouth pressing against Gavin’s stomach, pushing his hips back into Connor and shivering under Gavin’s hands. 

“Nines,” Connor groans and his hips stutter and still. Connor waves his hands in the air and Gavin realizes that he’s trying to cool himself down. It’s so cute that Gavin wants to frown about it. 

Nines make a noise in the back of his throat, and Gavin moves his hands to cup his cheeks. He lifts Nines’s head a little and Connor leans forward to nose at the back of his neck. Nines makes another noise and turns his face toward Connor. Connor laughs and says “Just a minute.” He slides off Nines’s back and insinuates himself between Gavin’s legs alongside Nines. Gavin settles his hands on the back of either of their necks. 

He kisses Nines, sweet and chaste and Gavin can see Nines lean into it, but roll his eyes a little. He pulls away, and asks “Are you ready?” 

Nines nods, earnest. Connor leans in to kiss him, his mouth open just a fraction of an inch this time and Nines pushes forward to meet his mouth. They kiss like that for a handful of seconds. Gavin despairs - two of the hottest people he’s ever seen kissing in his lap, obscene and filthy. Heat stirs in Gavin’s gut but he can’t do anything about it. 

Connor pulls away and Nines looks up at Gavin, mouth open. 

“Me too?” Gavin asks. Nines rolls his eyes again. Connor slips away and Nines pushes up on his knees to kiss Gavin. He tastes a little like Gavin’s come but mostly the kiss is just hot. 

Nines breaks away and says “Oh, fuck.” He pulls away, pushing his head onto Gavin’s shoulder. 

Gavin takes a peek down the sleek line of Nines’s back to see Connor thoroughly engrossed in pushing Gavin’s come into Nines’s ass with his tongue. Gross. But hot? Kind of less gross because it was androids. 

Nines seems really into it though, so Gavin is happy to rub his hands over Nines’s back and listen to him moan. 

“Is that it?” Gavin asks after a while. By now it’s obvious that Connor is just eating Nines’s ass to eat his ass, and that’s cool too. 

Nines nods against his shoulder and turns his face to kiss the side of Gavin’s neck. 

“That’s good, baby. I’m glad you’re getting what you need.” Connor moves his hands to the top of Nines’s ass, into gavins’ line of sight. He puts his thumb up in the air and waggles his eyebrows. Gavin laughs and says “You too, Connor.”

\--

(June 7)

“Had a chance to look over those CyberLife reports yet?” Gavin asks. The reports had come in hardcopy by courier the day before. Nines and Connor had taken them home with them to read over night. 

“Yes, but the information they contained was… not quite what I expected.” Nines says. 

“How so?”

“I expected a series of malfunctions in the hardware of each of the androids. A series, but hardly connected cases.” Gavin had been operating on the same theory. “But the reports indicated that all of these androids were perfectly functional, except that they had somehow deleted all of their memory files.”

“They, what, did it to themselves?” Gavin asks, incredulous. That’s fucking impossible. 

“It appears so.” Nines sounds just as baffled as Gavin feels. 

“What the fuck are we even supposed to do with that?”

“My thoughts exactly.” Nines agrees. 

\---  
(July 15)

“How can you even be wearing pants right now?” Gavin complains. Just looking at Nines is making him sweat. He’s not even doing anything - browsing Gavin’s bookshelf like it isn’t hotter than hell’s half acre in here. 

He’s wearing the same ensemble as that night in May - gray hoodie and matching sweatpants. He looks comfortable, like it’s November and Gavin can breathe again. Gavin himself is in boxers and nothing else, thighs sticking with sweat onto the worn leather of his couch.

Nines looks over at him as if to say that the external temperature has no affect on him and Gavin huffs in disgust. 

“Fuck off, I hate this. It’s 90 friggin’ degrees.” He can feel the sweat forming on the top of his lip. The fan oscillates in the corner, pushing warm air over his skin every couple of seconds. For now, that’s all he has to look forward to. 

“Your body temperature is - “ Nines starts but Gavin cuts him off. 

“Don’t you fuckin’ start that shit with me.” He doesn’t have the energy to lift his hand and point mockingly at Nines, but he does the voice anyway. “Your body temperature has not exceeded normal parameters, Gavin. Your theatrics are unnecessary.” Gavin scoffs. “It’s hot. Detroit wasn’t built for summer and neither was I.” 

“The heat is making you irritable.” Nines says. It almost sounds a little hurt. 

“Of course the heat is making me irritable.” Gavin says, irritably. “Eugh. I just wanna peel off layers of my skin.” He plucks irritably at the fabric of his boxers. Over the swish of the fan, Gavin can hear Nines walk toward him. 

“No, god, don’t come over here. Just the thought of you being close to me is making me sweat. I’m already melting.” Gavin closes his eyes and holds his hands out in front of him to ward Nines away. 

Instead, Nines grabs his wrists, his cool fingers slipping over the skin of his wrists. Involuntarily, Gavin shivers. Nines’s hands are cool. Gavin suddenly can’t imagine anything better. 

“Mmmm, yeah.” Gavin concedes. “If you’re gonna stay over here, though, the sweats gotta go.” 

“Are you asking me to remove my clothing, Gavin?” Even Nines’s voice feels like a drink of cold water. 

“Too scandalous for you?” 

Nines pulls his hands away like an asshole. He does start to toy with the hem of his hoodie, though, so that’s a start. 

“No.” Nines crosses his arms over his torso and tugs the sweater up, revealing his sculpted stomach and torso. Gavin licks his lips. He really wishes he had a glass of water right now, because his mouth is dry as a bone.

The sweatshirt clears Nines’s head and on Gavin’s way to see him shake his hair out, his mouth starts to water. Jesus Christ. 

“Nines.” Gavin says, not sure if his voice is at a normal register or not. Black lace frames his shoulders and wraps around his back. Gavin wants to push his face into the exposed skin of Nines’s chest, where his gorgeous chest is framed by the lace cups of the bra. Gavin is sure his mouth is hanging wide open, but he doesn’t give a flying fuck. If his mouth is open, there are fewer steps he has to take to get his mouth on Nines. 

“Get over here.” Gavin demands. He lifts his hands towards Nines, inviting him to just come over here, sit in my lap a little, baby. 

“Oh, how the tables have turned.” Nines says. He slides his pants down to reveal matching lace panties with three cut out bands over his hips - the perfect place for Gavin to put his fingers to pull him closer if only he’d just fucking step closer. 

“Don’t be smug.” Gavin says. “How could you not tell me about this?” He knows he sounds a little betrayed, but it’s hard not to be when Nines never said anything. 

“I told you I had clothes that weren’t work appropriate.” Nines steps closer and instead of processing what Nines says, he splays his fingers on the skin of Nines’s hips not covered by lacy fabric. He feels cool and solid in his hands. It’s fucking refreshing. 

“Wait, what the fuck?” Gavin replays what Nines just said in his mind. “When did we talk about this?” Surely Gavin would remember talking about this?

“Right before you took me shopping for the first time. You asked if I had any work clothing and I replied that I had some. I did not specify that it was not work appropriate at the time, but I assumed you understood what I meant.” 

“So, wait, hold up. You’ve just been… wearing this under your clothing this whole time?” Gavin’s brain is struggling. It’s too hot. It’s too hot for this. 

“When I am not at work, I am free to wear what I please.” Nines defends. And then in a small voice, adds. “This pleases me.” 

“Oh, honey.” Gavin says. All of the indignation melts away. “You can wear whatever you want.” He gives Nines hip a little tug. Nines follows the movement easily until he’s kneeling over Gavin’s lap. He’s blocking the fan, but his whole body is cool and dry. 

Nines slides his hands behind Gavin’s neck and he shivers. It feels good because it’s Nines but it also feels good because his hands are cold. It’s Nines, it’s all Nines. 

Gavin presses his face into the exposed skin between Nines’s pecs, the cups of the bra gently stretched over them like a fuckin present. His breath is reflected back at him only cooler. It feels good too. 

He looks up at Nines’s face, reverent. “You’re beautiful.” 

“You only like me because I’m cooler than you.” Nines’s thumb strokes the tender skin under Gavin’s left eye. 

“I would like you even if you were a thousand degrees.” Nines looks at him, disbelievingly. “Probably only in the winter though.” 

“Hmmm.” Nines hums. His vocal processor buzzes a little. Gavin loves it. “Connor is very warm.” Nines says, apropos of nothing. 

“Yep. And where is he again?” Gavin asks, playfully. He lays his cheek on the firm rise of Nines’s chest. God, it’s like snuggling with a cold pack. 

“Connor is at work today. With Hank.” Nines says. Gavin wraps his sweaty arms around Nines’s middle. Nines has relaxed, splitting his weight between his knees on either side of Gavin’s hips and thighs, trusting Gavin to hold him up. 

“Mmm. Too far, even though he is too warm.” Gavin says, ruefully. 

“There’s always winter.” Nines says. Gavin hums agreeably. 

\--

(August 9)  
Gavin makes a disparaging noise when he walks in his bedroom to see Jupiter curled into a loaf on Connor’s chest. He’s a vision, clad in a pair of Gavin’s ratty sleep pants and a black tee with the sleeves cut out . “I hate you.” Gavin says. 

Connor lifts his hand to scratch behind Jupiter’s ears. “Don’t listen to him, baby. He doesn’t mean it.” Connor all but coos. Jupiter purrs so loudly that Gavin can hear it from across the room, where he’s pulling out some sleep shorts and an equally awful sleep tee. Gavin humphs in disagreement and Connor says “He’s just jealous.” 

Gavin squints at him for a second, before dropping his jeans on the floor. “Am I supposed to be jealous of you or the cat?” 

“Yes.” Connor says, face alight with mischievousness. Gavin screws his mouth into an exaggerated frown. He ruins it by shucking his shirt and replacing it with the sleep tee he’d picked out. He balls his clothes up and tosses them toward the hamper next to the closet. 

“Asshole.” Gavin says, with sincerity. 

“Hmmm.” Connor purses his lips. Jupiter’s furry ass has stayed put on Connor’s stomach, her paws prim and proper on his collar bone. Her tail thumps against his thigh. “I think you like me.”

“Impossible.” Gavin says, sarcasm coloring his voice. He puts one knee on the bed, and Connor lifts his arm. Jupiter meows at being jostled, but doesn’t move at all. 

Gavin crawls over and slots himself in the space that Connor created. His head on his shoulder. It’s comfortable, even with the wish-swish of Connor’s thirium pump instead of a heartbeat beneath his ear. Gavin yawns. It’s like ocean sounds. 

“Clearly.” Connor says. His hand is stationary, resting on Jupe’s back. Gavin scratches her neck under the glow in the dark star collar he’s always having to find and put back on her, and then runs his hand down her back. 

He stops when he gets to Connor’s hand and lets it rest on top of it. 

“Are you going to fall asleep?” Connor asks. 

“Mmmm.” Gavin hums, muzzily. He’s already halfway asleep. “What’re you gonna do?” He turns his nose into Connor’s armpit and blocks out the light from the window. 

“Nines is informing me all about the intricacies of his knitting project. I also have endless entertainment available at literally any time I’d like it, so you know. I keep busy.”

“Fucker.” Gavin says. “Read your weird books. I’m goin’ta sleep.” 

“Good night, Gavin.” 

“Night, Connor. Tell Nines ‘Hi’ for me.” Connor’s hand strokes down over Gavin’s shoulder. 

“Of course. He says go the fuck to sleep.” Gavin hums and succumbs to the darkness. 

\--

In the middle of the night, Gavin gasps awake. He looks over in the dark, to see Nines in the doorway, the light from the bathroom illuminating him from behind. 

“What the fuck, Nines.” He says. Connor’s LED whirs and his eyes blink open.

“My stitch and bitch meeting is over.” Nines says. He tugs the socks off his feet in a graceful move that makes Gavin’s over active, now-awake brain think of the anime of his childhood. 

“Oh.” Gavin says, dumbly. He’s not sure what’s wrong, other than the fact that he was awakened suddenly. He feels uneasy about something. 

“What is it?” Nines asks. For all that he has perfect recall and pattern recognition, he’s still not got any instincts to speak of. 

“I’m not sure. I just.” He rubs at his eyes with the heel of his hands, and reaches for his glasses on the side table. He sighs. “Did you have a good meeting?” Connor’s hand rubs calming circles in the small of his back. 

“Yes. I was able to exceed the goal I had set for the time.” This is practically a ringing endorsement. 

“That’s good.” Gavin says. Connor hasn’t said anything yet, but he just came out of his standby cycle, and he probably won’t for at least 5 minutes. 

“I did notice someone new, though.” He says. “A familiar face, though I cannot seem to place him.” 

“Weird.” Nines normally remembers everyone. 

“Yes. It took me a while to place him, but finally I was able to locate where I had seen him. Just a witness in an old case.” 

“Happens all the time.” Gavin says. Eventually, you run into someone you’ve seen on their worst day, and you have to pretend like you don’t know what their shock looks like. It’s unsettling every time, even now that Gavin’s had years to get better at it. 

“The probability is high.” Nines says. “He seemed odd though.”

“Want me to look into him for you?” 

“I am also a detective, Gavin.” Nines strips to his underclothes - which Gavin has encouraged him to wear and pads to the other side of the bed. Connor lifts up the blanket for him and he slides in. He kisses the side of Connor’s head, worming his arm under Connor’s neck. He curls his hand over Connor’s arm, and Gavin lays back down in the space Connor kept for him. Nines strokes his fingers across Gavin’s arm. 

“Sleep time?” Gavin asks, hopefully. 

“Sleep time.” Nines agrees. 

\--  
(August 29)

“Incorrigible.” Gavin says. Connor presses a kiss to his bare shoulder. Nines noodles backwards, pressing the back of his knees to Gavin’s and shoving his ass into Gavin’s crotch more firmly in the process. “We have to be at work in an hour.” If Nines’s head wasn’t on the pillow beside him, he’d be pulling it over his face even though it’s 9 am already.

“Hmmmm.” Nines hums. He continues to wiggle back into Gavin. 

Connor scrapes his teeth across Gavin’s shoulder, and he shudders into it. Connor presses kisses along the back of Gavin’s shoulder and up his neck. Into his ear he whispers, “I believe that’s why we are waking you up, Gavin.” He presses his hot mouth to the skin under Gavin’s ear, and if Gavin were a weaker man, he’d whimper. Pleasure blooms, hot and shaky in his stomach, and he presses his hips forward into Nines. Nines throws his arm back to grab Gavin by the hip, using it as leverage to keep him still and do a filthy grind. 

“This is torture.” Connor runs his hands up Gavin’s back, over his shoulder and then down his arm to twine their fingers together. 

“It isn’t.” Connor squeezes Gavin’s hand, one, two, three times. Gavin’s heart swells. He presses his face in the middle of Nines’s back. Stupid tall fucker. 

“Cruel and unusual.” Gavin says, and he’s proud of how steady his voice is. 

“Mmhm.” Connor says. “Truly this is a war crime.” He wiggles his hand between Nines’s back and his stomach to press there, fingertips barely brushing the top of Gavin’s sleep pants.

“I do not know of a court that would convict.” Nines pipes in. Gavin sputters out a truly unattractive laugh. Connor presses his smile into the back of Gavin’s neck, where his hair is getting a little long. He brushes his open mouth across his hair, Gavin knows, reveling in the sensation of hair against his mouth. This is a Connor thing, as much as the aggressive butt cuddling is a Nines thing. Different parts of them are sensitive and Gavin has no qualms about indulging them under normal circumstances. 

“I have to be in the shower in 10 minutes.” He warns. 

“We could get in the shower now.” Connor says. 

“Cruel. And. Unusual.” Gavin groans. He buries his face deeper in Nines’s back. Connor’s fingers flex on his stomach. Gavin makes a high pitched noise and flinches. That tickled.

“Sorry.” Connor says. “We could leave you alone?” 

“And leave you to your horny bastard ways without me?” Gavin asks. “Hardly.” 

“According to my data, Connor and I can make you come in 7.34 minutes on average. I am certain we could create an outlier if we worked together.” Nines says, smug.

“Connor and I can make you come in 7.34 minutes.” Gavin mocks. “Fuck off. Sure I can get off in under 10 minutes, but will my legs work enough to take a shower after? I think not.” 

“Tick tock, Gavin.” Gavin balls his hand into a fist on Nines’s hip. Goddamn horny androids. What the fuck was he thinking. He’s going to be so late for work. 

“Fucking fine. Blow me in the shower. One of you weirdos can get me clean after and the other can hold me the fuck up.” 

“I’ve already picked out your clothing for the day.” Nines says. 

“I started the coffee pot 10 minutes ago. It will be ready by the time we are done in the shower.” Connor chimes in, cheerily. Gavin groans internally. Really? These two? 

“You really planned this down to the minute, didn’t you?” Gavin complains. Androids. Just once he'd like to lie in bed and just enjoy the feeling of skin against skin before he has to get ready for work.

“Nines and I have been planning this since last night.” 

“I will admit I was eager to see you bleary and flushed on our route to work, Gavin.” Nines chimes in, his voice possessive and dark. 

“And be what, horny at work all day?” The thought is slimy. Gavin doesn’t even want to think about it. 

“Not quite, Gavin. Anticipatory. Expectant.” Gavin flushes. “I like knowing that you look like that for me. For us. And that in just a few hours, you will look like that again.” 

“Jesus Christ.” Gavin says. He knew Nines was possessive, but he hadn’t expected to like it quite this much. 

“Mmm.” Connor says. “No. Just us.” Gavin, disgusted, slithers out of bed and heads to the bathroom, throwing a middle finger up in the air at the androids left in the bed. 

He leaves the door open and turns on the water to let it warm up. “You all coming?” He shouts.

He grabs a washrag and three towels, stepping on the ends of his pyjama pants to pull them down instead of using his hands. Nines and Connor arrive, an unreasonable jumble of arms and legs that wouldn’t have the coordination to move together like that if they were human. 

“I was promised a blowjob and a thorough washing.” He says, stepping into the shower. “Chop chop.” 

Gavin pushes the cold water that’s pooled in the back of the shower toward the drain so it will mix with the hot water. His eyes alight on his shampoo, conditioner, and bar of soap, making sure he doesn’t need anything from under the sink before he gets too distracted - or wet. Connor steps into the shower, crowding Gavin against the side and kissing him, hot and breathless. 

Connor pulls away and, while Gavin is panting, trying to draw in a cool breath through all the steam and the blood rushing south, says over his shoulder “We haven’t got all day.” 

“Fuck off.” Nines says, stepping into the shower. It’s small and cramped and Gavin is kind of regretting not expanding when he was renovating 10 years ago. How could he have possibly known then, in the depths of his self-loathing and outward appearance of android bigotry that he’d be in a relationship with not one, but two androids? And not the small, dainty ones, either, ha-cha-cha. 

“Excuse me?” Gavin says, very coherently. Nines presses a sweet kiss to the corner of Gavin's cheek, while Connor maneuvers himself onto his knees. Nines urges Gavin to step closer and when he goes easily, half picks him up and pulls Gavin’s back against his chest. He hooks his arms under Gavin's, splaying his hands over the curve of Gavin’s stomach. 

Gavin turns his face and Nines turns to meet him in a kiss over his shoulder. It’s too much stretch for very long, but when Gavin pulls away to unhitch the crick in his neck, Nines presses sweet kisses all along it. 

Connor, who Gavin had kind of lost track of, abruptly kisses the head of Gavin’s dick. Gavin had needed some of that blood for his brain on the way to the shower, so he’s half hard, but quickly making up ground. Connor’s tongue flicks out to curl around the head, and Gavin groans. _Well, they are on a schedule,_ he thinks. 

“Oh god.” Gavin moans. Nines scrapes his teeth along the side of Gavin’s neck, pushing his hand down to lever Gavin’s dick away from his stomach with his thumb. Fuck, oh shit. His hand is cool in the best way. 

“He loves it.” Nines says, voice dark. “There are more sensors in his mouth than anywhere else.” Nines says, almost casual, except for the way that Connor moans and slides halfway down Gavin’s cock. “And he’s using every. Single. One. to enjoy getting you off.” Gavin almost chokes. His hips try to jerk forward, but he’s pinned between two slabs of pure detroit-made synthetic beefcake. 

Connor pulls back, rolling his tongue on the underside of Gavin’s cock and moaning. He pushes forward, swallowing all of Gavin’s dick this time. Gavin writhes, his hips shifting in the confines of Nines’s grasp. Connor’s tongue works and with a hysterical giggle, he realizes that Connor is curling his tongue around to lick at Nines’s thumb. 

Water sprays on Gavin’s face but he can’t bring himself to care. It feels like it’s steaming on his skin when it hits. By comparison, Nines’s hands feel like ice and that feels good too. Especially compared to the heat of Connor’s mouth. 

“Are you going to come for us, Gavin?” Gavin groans, rolling his head to the side to mouth at Nines’s jaw. He takes a couple of heaving breaths, trying to gather his wits enough to answer. Connor pulls back, slides Gavin’s cock over his tongue. Nines obligingly jerks Gavin off into Connor’s mouth. 

“Yeah - Fuck! Yes. Please.” Gavin begs. Connor sucks at the head of Gavin’s cock, pushing it through the tight suction of his lips. Nines’s cool hand strokes up and down over his cock, the other pressed firmly on his stomach. He writhes into both touches, begging with his body for Nines to keep touching him, for Connor to use his mouth. 

“That’s it, Gavin.” Nines says. He presses his cool mouth to Gavin’s temple. Being grateful for that little bit of reprieve from the heat is the last thought he has before the orgasm twists in his gut. 

"Thank you." He whimpers.

When he has some capacity to know what’s happening again, Connor is the one behind him. Nines is on his knees, with Gavin’s foot propped up on his thigh, running a soaped up washcloth over his leg with rather more relish than Gavin usually does. 

“Hey.” Connor says. “Back with us?” 

“Mmmm.” Gavin says. He turns his face toward Connor, which Connor rewards with a kiss. “Time ‘s it?” 

“It’s currently 9:12 AM. We are on schedule for your normal morning routine.” Gavin is very grateful that Nines and Connor have his back here, even though they’re the ones who got him into this situation in the first place. It feels nice to let someone else take care of him like this. 

Nines’s touch is tender but not passionate. Intimate, his brain supplies, and yeah. He guesses it is pretty intimate. 

“We didn’t want to wash your hair with you so out of it, so we’ll do that in a minute.” Nines says. He’s moved onto Gavin’s other leg now, presumably having washed his top half first. He curls his hand round Gavin’s ankle and thoroughly swipes the soapy rag over his skin. Nines taps at his ankle, and he lifts his foot. _Like a well trained horse_ , Gavin thinks, kind of hysterically. 

Nines washes his foot brusquely, firm enough not to tickle, and make sure to wash the soap off before setting Gavin’s foot down on the floor of the shower. Gavin waggles his toes against the floor, and decidedly doesn’t think about his feelings. 

Nines moves to stand and turns towards the spray to wash the soap out of the rag. He gives it a good squeeze and throws it over the bar of the shower curtain to dry. 

“Hair next?” he asks. 

“Hair next.”


	5. Chew up your love then swallow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines goes missing and comes back rather worse for the wear. Featuring an appearance by Elijah Kamski and Gavin being secretly way more badass than previously thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah the end! Finally! And just in time to celebrate Gavin's birthday! 
> 
> Chapter Title from Open Passageways by All Them Witches.

(September 12)  
Gavin’s in the middle of paperwork when his phone rings in his pocket. He pulls it out to see who’s calling, and huh. That’s weird. Tina’s on shift. Why the fuck would she be calling? 

“Hey, Teenie.” Gavin says, hoping that this is nothing but knowing in his gut that it probably isn’t. 

“Gavin.” Tina’s voice is tense. “Are you ok?” 

“I’m fine.” Gavin says slowly. He tries to think about what he’s done recently that would give her that tone of voice. 

“Is Nines with you?” Gavin looks up to see Nines staring at him. 

“He’s right here.” 

“Oh thank fuck.” Tina says. “I think you have a stalker.” 

“A stalker?” He tries to sound innocent and not to let on how many texts from unknown numbers he’s been ignoring. He’s sure he doesn’t do a very good job. 

“Yes. I just caught an android trying to.. Well I don’t know what he was trying to do, but he had some poor thing pinned up against a wall with his hand all white. It’s like he didn’t realize that the other person wasn’t an android. Kept trying to sync up with them and yelling when it didn’t work.” 

Something stirs in Gavin’s mind, but it isn’t clear enough to make the connection. “What the fuck?” He says instead. It’s a pretty standard response. Nines tilts his head as if to question, but Gavin knows that he can hear Tina’s phone call from across their desks. 

“I took him in for processing, but he doesn’t have a serial number and if he was ever registered to anyone, it’s been scrubbed. The really weird thing was, when we got to the precinct, he kept asking if you were here, if this is where you worked. You and Nines.” 

“That’s really fucking weird, Tina.” Gavin tilts the phone down, and looks up at Nines. “Hey, what was the name of that weird android who tried to shake your hand a couple of months back?” 

Nines blinks, his eyes going hazy. Gavin goes back to the conversation with Tina. 

“What did he say his name was?” 

“He wouldn’t give me a first name. Just said to call him Aisimov.” 

“Aisimov? Like the old sci-fi writer?” 

“Yep. He said he only wanted to see you and I told him that you were a detective and he’d already been caught, so there was no need to bring in a detective.” Tina pauses, taking a couple of shaky breaths. “He laughed. And then he said that he had some information about the Andronikov case you might want to know if you were ever going to solve it.” 

“How did he know about that case? That was months ago, and we closed it because it was un-fucking-solveable.” 

“That’s what he said. And then he shut up and the kid wouldn’t press charges and we couldn’t hold him so we had to release him.” Tina’s voice takes on a worried, sharp tone. “Gavin, I need you to be careful.” 

“I will, Tina. Of course I will.” 

(September 13th)

“Wait, where the fuck is Nines?” Gavin demands. Nines had run ahead to catch the perp, and Gavin had hustled along behind him. A weirdly familiar android had grabbed a little girl’s wrist. The android with her had pushed herself between the child and the interloper. The android had touched his hand to the android’s face and it had just gone down. 

Its knees bent, the girl screamed, and the android homicide unit had its first hard proof that the deactivated androids were all connected. The android brought its hands up to its face and Nines had pushed through the crowd to get to it. He knelt in front of her, touched his hand to her wrist. She turned her face up to him, but even Gavin could tell that inside she was empty. 

“It was Isaac.” Nines had said. 

“What?”

“Isaac. That creepy android who tried to shake my hand? You asked about him yesterday, but I couldn’t quite place it.” Oh, now Gavin remembers. Real pushy, real creepy. 

“Fuck.” Nines said. “She’s gone.”

“Go.” Gavin said. “I got this.” 

He’d called for backup to pick up the body and make his report, expecting Nines to radio in with confirmation that he’s got that weirdo. 

No dice. 

Fuck. 

Gavin tries to call Nines, but it won’t connect. He calls Connor to see if he can connect with Nines, and Connor says that he can’t find Nines anywhere. Oh shit. Oh fuck. 

“Can you put an APB out for me?” He describes Isaac as best he can, and says that he might have Nines in tow. 

He spends all the time he can looking for Nines, but he realizes at some point that he’s doing more harm than good. So he goes back to the office and steals the Andronikov files and obsesses. 

He does some thought experiments about what would happen if you built your own androids out of a mishmash of parts if you already had the operating systems like Zlatko did. Some android parts just weren’t meant to be used with certain operating systems. Nines and Connor couldn’t switch arms, for instance. Connor had a lot of delicate sensors and circuitry in his hands and arms. There was more to his forensics kit than just his mouth and eyes. 

Nines, however, was built to punch shit. Fewer sensors, no heat sink. Heavy actuators in his elbows and shoulders to make sure he hit as hard as a tank. 

If you tried to put Nines’s arms on Connor’s body, Connor’s operating system wouldn’t be able to cope with the disconnect of so many of his important sensors and he’d start to glitch. 

Nines’s processors, likewise, wouldn’t be able to keep up with the inputs of Connor’s hands. He’d glitch as well. 

Isaac, Gavin suspected, was entirely mish-mashed together. There’s no telling how he suffered, but eventually, if left long enough - a couple of months maybe, he would have been able to overwrite parts of his code enough to function. 

And be able to transfer the code to another to deprive or overwhelm their programming enough to trigger a pre-written self-defense mechanism to hard reset. That Isaac designed. Fuck. Maybe he hadn’t murdered Zlatko, but he’d come from there, in the dark. 

Gavin’s eyes burn and his brain feels like he’s spinning even though he’s sitting at his desk at home. The desktop light is the only light on, and it feels too bright and too dim at the same time. He glances at his watch - 1 AM. He needs to be at work at 7 AM tomorrow if he’s going to return these files before his shift. 

Gavin clicks off the light. He heads to the bathroom and showers in the dark.  
\--  
(September 14th)  
“This better be a goddamn emergency,” is the first thing he says into his phone. He hadn’t looked at the contact, but he knows without looking that it’s Connor. Only Connor would call him with news about Nines as soon as he got it.

He rubs his eyes, trying to figure out what time it is without pulling the phone away from his ear. The ceiling is painted with the tie dye of the neon lights of the bar across the street from his house. Before 2 AM then. And he’d just fucking gotten to sleep. Jesus. 

This better be good, but he already knows it won’t be. Nothing this soon is ever good news. Nothing to do with Isaac could be good news.

“Gavin.” Connor’s voice is brittle and shaky. He only says Gavin’s name, but it tells him all he needs to know. He settles into the familiar urgency. That old ambulance chaser thrill. He knew it would come to this, so he was prepared. Maybe not for it to happen at 1:55 AM, but he’s had more inconvenient call outs. 

“Tell me.” he levers himself up, already reaching for his pants from yesterday. His jacket is by the door and his bag is in his car already.

“We found him.” If Connor’s voice could break, it would. 

“Where.” Connor tells him. 

\--

15 minutes later, he’s 20 minutes earlier than he told Connor he’d be. “Fuck,” he says in the hallway. He hates the goddamned basement of this place. 

The darkness of the room is only enhanced by the recessed emergency lighting. “What happened here?” He’s never seen CyberLife like this, though to be fair, he’s never really seen CyberLife at all. Not really. This is just a carbon copy of the office he remembers, the labs he helped pick out.

“Where’s the mechanic? You said you’d bring someone to help Nines.” Connor demands. Gavin is too tired to be polite, even to Connor, whom he loves dearly. 

“Where is he?” Gavin asks. He lifts up his bag, but obviously Connor doesn't get it yet. He could be fixing Nines right now.

He can hear Connor’s deep sigh, but he waves him towards the door on the right. 

Elijah’s already there, clacking away at the terminal. A blessing and a curse. 

In the center of the room, the only thing that Gavin can look at is Nines. His chest cavity is hanging open from where his chassis has been slashed in a jagged line. The major tube that transports Thirium from the pump to the processors in his head is severed completely. The access ports to his arms on both sides and the one on his left leg have been pulled out and mangled. 

His face is half covered in synthskin, down to where the charred silicone of his jaw shows through. Gavin almost throws up. He steps forward to put his bag on the table next to where he’s propped up. Thank goodness he’s powered down, because Gavin doesn’t know if he could deal with the way Nines would sound, the hiccuping gurgle of his pump trying and failing to cool his processors. 

Gavin must make a noise, one he doesn’t want to acknowledge, because Eli looks up. His eyes light up, just a little. Gavin resigns himself to really being in for it. Nines, he reminds himself. Nines is worth it.

“Oh good,” Eli says, “the cavalry.” The look of realization on Connor’s face is also worth it. Gavin waves his hands sarcastically. There’s a table next to the framework holding Nines up and he puts his bag there. He doesn’t think about what Eli is doing more than he has to. Gavin’s stomach twists at the ragdoll flop of Nines’s wrists, his neck. The careless spread of his knees.

Elijah turns back to the monitor and Gavin braces himself for this.

“He was awake when they brought him in,” Eli offers. It’s a heartrending relief. 

“Oh goody. Why the fuck is he in pieces?” Gavin says. He pulls Nines’s chassis to open it and the internal hydraulics hold it in place for him. He braces himself for a minute then lightly runs his fingers over the cut edge of the main line in Nines’s chest. 

“They hit him with some sort of virus first and then started cutting.” Eli says, still focused on the monitor. That tracks from what he surmised about Isaac’s plan of attack. Not that he has any goddamn clue why Isaac is focused on Nines, but still. 

Gavin runs his fingers over the empty ports, just to make sure there’s no damage to any of them before he puts new plugs in. The main processor line is good, but the one for the fine motor control of his fingers still has the old plug in it - it’s been severed so closely that he’ll have to drill into it and pull it out by hand. Better than a broken one. The last three are also fine, so Gavin goes to get the handheld. Connor’s eyes follow him and widen with surprise when he comes back with a drill and a screw. 

“I can’t tell much while he’s down like this about what happened before, but this virus is a nasty fucker. It deletes portions of code related to processing, I think.”

Fuck. “That’s just fucking great.” Gavin says. Editing an android’s programming is like changing its DNA. You’re going to fuck up if you’re not very, very careful. Isaac is not very careful. 

“Your pet serial killer android has been spreading it around.” Eli says. 

“You knew what he was and didn’t help us catch him?” Elijah’s guilty silence is all that Gavin needs to hear. 

“Fuck you.” He says. His hands are covered in Nines blood and he's got to trust the one person who programmed Nines to be a machine to fix him. To bring him back. 

“Gavin!” Connor interjects uselessly. 

“No, Connor, he’s right.” Elijah sighs. Gavin is happy not to see Connor’s dumbstruck expression, but he can imagine it well enough. Connor says he surprised him, well at least now he’s deserved that assessment. 

“Fuck you again. How dare you!” Gavin says to Elijah. To Connor he says, “Elijah is my half brother. We founded Cyberlife when we were 16.” He looks around the room, digging through cabinets and drawers for the parts he needs. He finally locates the tubing and the replacement plugs he needs. _There you are,_ he thinks. _Gotcha._

Connor’s tone is flat when he says “What.” he sounds so much like Nines and Gavin's heart squeezes.

“My baby brother here,” Elijah says, “is the reason that we even have androids at all.” Gavin frowns absently at him, plugging the ports in, one by one, muscle memory kicking in to make sure he does it in order. 

“Hardly,” he finally responds. “You would have gotten there eventually.” With help maybe. 

“Yeah,” Elijah says, “10 years too late. You invented Thirium.” Gavin is still kind of proud of himself for that. Every android that has ever been made was made because he knew a little chemistry and too much engineering. 

“You’re welcome,” Gavin says absently. Elijah’s typing is slowing, indicating that he’s working on a particularly bungled bit of code, or he’s distracted. Probably distracted. 

“Your contribution to the company was well rewarded,” Eli reminds him. Yeah yeah yeah. Gavin pushes on Nines’s hand, to see if he can get it to respond autonomically. It resists when he twists it and then holds when he tries to let go. Nines’s eyes twitch at the movements, seemingly tracking the movements. Good responses. 

Gavin manually initiates his Thirium pump, tapping his finger on the top of it in time with the whish-swish sound of the tubing filling up. It’s holding pressure, so it should all be good through his chest. Now it’s just… reconnecting Nines’s lower controls.

“You could have taken more if you wanted.” It isn’t until Eli says something that he realizes that he’d said those yeahs out loud. 

“I didn’t want more.” he says. He’d wanted his brother. He’d wanted to wonder at the strange and beautiful and terrifying creatures they’d made together. Instead, he’d gotten a lump sum and some stock. And constant disappointment in the creations they'd worked on together.

“We always missed you, you know.” Elijah, damn him, has the audacity to sound wistful. 

“You missed me. Amanda was overjoyed to see the back of me.” Amanda wasn’t a stone cold bitch to Eli, at least. The only thing he’d ever thank her for.

“Amanda liked you fine.” Elijah lied. Gavin uses this time to reconnect some of the disconnected wires that control Nines’s legs. He has to replace some of them, he finds, so he spends a moment digging around in Cyberlife’s fancy tool cabinets looking for the right ones. 

“Oh yes, saw me as her second son.” He turns back towards Nines and catches a glimpse of the smile on Eli’s face. He might be a bastard, but he’s still Gavin’s brother. He fucking missed him. 

“Her third, at least, Gavin.” This play fighting feels so natural that Gavin can feel himself calm down a little. He reattaches the wires, making sure each connection is secure and testing the responses as he goes the same way he’d done with the upper half. 

“Chloe and Elijah were already her perfect little puppets,” Gavin says holding back laughter now, “what would she ever need me for?” Nines’s body is as ready as it will ever be. They’ll need to talk to him about the repairs, see if anything needs adjustment, but for now, he was physically stable and ready for whenever Elijah finished pulling him out of the hole that he’d been thrown into.

Elijah chuckles too, but it’s obvious that now that Gavin has gotten Nines’s body functional, he can get down to work trying to get him back online. 

Connor, mostly forgotten about, is standing in the corner, eyes wide and flicking from Elijah to Gavin to Elijah and back again. 

“Hey,” Gavin says softly. “He’s gonna be ok.” Connor looks at him, eyes shiny. Fuck, androids can’t cry, but Connor looks like he’s going to fucking try. “Eli will get him fixed up. I may not like him very much, but I trust him to do that, okay?” He puts his hand on Connor’s shoulder and Connor topples forward into Gavin like the rug’s been yanked out from under his feet. 

Gavin slides his arm under Connor’s armpit and tries to bear the weight of floppy android. 

“I’m gonna go get a soda,” Gavin says in Elijah’s direction. 

“Sure.” Eli says, distracted. He types for a moment, then sucks a breath in. He jerks his head up and says “The break room is one floor up, to the left. Can’t miss it.” 

“Coffee?” He asks. Eli’s going to need something. He’s already sucked back into the screen. 

“Just water, please.” He says faintly. Gavin tamps down his surprise. Maybe people really can change. Not all the way, but enough. Maybe trying is enough. 

“Come on, Connor,” he tugs him up by the armpit and steers him toward the door. Connor follows, just loose enough that Gavin knows he’s on autopilot. 

Gavin pauses in the hallway, before they get to the elevator. 

“Hey.” Gavin’s voice is soft, like he’s talking to a skittish animal. Now that Nines is gonna be ok, he can deal with Connor properly.

The ride upstairs is silent, but he can feel Connor’s questions brewing. The first, at least, isn’t a question, but still requires an answer. 

“You said you didn’t know Elijah Kamski.” Connor says. He doesn’t outright accuse Gavin of lying, but his tone says it for him. 

“I did say that. But I hadn’t talked to him in 15 years, so it was kind of true.” 

“He’s your half brother.” Connor says. And yeah, as much as Connor and Nines insist that they aren’t brothers, they’re still… something. Connor understands the bonds of love deeper than most people can. 

“And he forced me out of his company for profit.” Gavin’s never outright said it that way before, but it’s true. 

“Is that why you hated androids?” This is a turn that Gavin hadn’t expected. He opens the communal fridge and pulls out 2 bottles of water. 

“I didn’t hate androids.” Gavin says. How does he explain? 

“You gave every appearance of hating them, Gavin. You threatened me. You called me names. You professed hatred for Androids more than once in my presence.”

“You do have perfect recall.” Gavin says regretfully.

“I don’t understand.” Connor sounds just as broken as he had on the phone earlier. This is a stressful day and a bad time for this conversation, but maybe it’s the only time that they can have it. 

“I don’t expect you to. How could you possibly understand, before? I wanted to make you angry. I wanted to break through to you so that you could break through. You were so close, I could see it. I wanted you to see it too. I knew it was wrong but I was so angry at Elijah and I couldn’t think of anything else to do.” 

“You’re an idiot.” Connor says.

“No objections here.” The bottle of water is sweating in his hand. 

"Is… Nines going to be okay?" Connor asks. His voice is low and vulnerable. 

"He'll be fine. At this point, it’s mostly just making sure he’s still got all his memories before we flash a new copy of his operating system on him." Gavin cuffs his hand on Connor's shoulder. Connor tips forward into Gavin's space. Gavin catches him easily. He hugs Connor for a long moment, carding his fingers through the hair at the nape of Connor's neck. "If anyone can do that, it’s Eli.” 

"I know that you don't know what's going to happen," Connor says. "But I still find your words soothing." 

Gavin laughs at him. "You're welcome." 

\--  
Eli looks up from his keyboard. There are dark circles under his eyes and he looks ashen, like he hasn’t eaten properly in weeks. “I think we’re ready.” 

“Shit.” Gavin says. He grabs Connor’s hand. “Ok, boot him up.” 

Nines comes back to life in fits and starts. Gavin’s fingers dig into the uncovered silicate of Connor’s hand. He hasn’t prayed since before he graduated high school, too frustrated with the politics and hypocrisies of the church, but he does the closest thing he can remember. _Let him be ok,_ he thinks into the universe. _Please._

Connor’s eyes are wide, when Gavin glances over, but his face is stony. They’re both resigned to the thought that Nines might not remember anything at all. 

Nines open his eyes. For the first couple of seconds he blinks, and if he weren’t an android, Gavin would think he was acclimating to the light of the room. He’s not - it’s a calibration process to ensure that his motor function is operating optimally. 

“Hello.” Eli says. “RK900 report.” Nines turns his head to look at Elijah. Gavin sucks in a breath, hoping. 

“Hello. I do not believe we have met before. I am RK900 #313 248 317 - 87. This is a cyberlife facility, is that correct?” 

“It is. I’m Elijah Kamski.” Eli steps forward, his hand outstretched. Nines shakes his hand, but there’s a curious look on his face. 

“Interesting.” Nines says. 

“I’m going to ask you some questions to test your memory.”

“Of course.” Nines acquiesces. So far there’s nothing to indicate one way or the other that he doesn’t remember. 

“What was your activation date?” 

“November 15th, 2038. I was activated after the android revolution by my predecessor Connor.” 

“That’s good. What’s the last thing you remember?” 

“Everything.” Nines says. 

“What do you mean by everything?”

“I remember Isaac touching my arm, and then my arm exploded into sensation. There are not enough sensors in my arm to produce that amount of sensory input, but it felt like there were.” 

“Maybe I should have phrased that differently. What is the last day you remember?”

“September 13th, which I believe was yesterday. Gavin and I were away from the precinct getting coffee when we saw Isaac try to abduct a little girl. I left in pursuit of him, but it was just what he wanted. He incapacitated me and then nothing.” 

So, at least he remembers most of what happened. That’s a fucking relief. 

“Nines?” Connor asks. His voice is soft. 

“Connor.” Nines turns his head and looks at them for the first time. “Gavin. I’m sorry.”

“The fuck are you sorry for?” Gavin snipes. Connor squeezes his hand. 

“Gavin.” Nines admonishes. Somehow, that’s very comforting.

“Yeah.” Eli chimes in, in the same tone as Nines. “Gavin.” Gavin gives him the finger.

Nines’s mouth curls up in a smile at the corner. He lifts his hand. Gavin and Connor step forward, in sync. 

“Are you ok?” Connor asks. His voice is still soft, small like he doesn’t want to take too much space. Gavin leans into him, pushing their arms and shoulders together in comfort and solidarity.

“I think so.” Nines says. 

“Gavin fixed you.” Connor says, his tone full of wonder, like a little kid talking to their hero.

“Did he now?” Nines asks. 

“I did what I could.” Gavin says. “Elijah did most of the heavy lifting.” It’s habit by now to try to turn the focus away from himself - back to Nines or Connor or, hell, even Eli. 

“I did.” Elijah says. “But I couldn’t have done it so fast if you all hadn’t insisted on sending me all these interesting android cases.”

“We sent them to CyberLife.” Gavin says, knowing exactly what Elijah is going to say. 

“You sent them to CyberLife hoping that they’d get to me. Because you knew I couldn’t turn down a mystery.” Eli has his hands on his hips. He’s looking a little brighter, now that he knows that Nines is probably going to be fine. “You couldn’t either, if I recall correctly.” 

“Didn’t become a Detective by accident.” Gavin says. And then “I’m tired. Can we go home now?”

Elijah gives Gavin his phone number. “If you need me, call.” 

\--

Jupiter yowls and twines herself between Nines’s legs. 

“What the fuck he wasn’t even gone that long!” Gavin says, affably angry. 

“She does this every time.” Connor says. “She just loves him.” 

“Can you blame her?” Gavin says. 

Connor looks at him, knowing all that he knows, that they’re going to have to tell Nines eventually, and says “No.”   
\--  
(Late September)  
When they catch up to Isaac, he’s staring up at the ceiling in an abandoned warehouse. It’s eerily reminiscent of the scene in Andronikov’s backyard, except Isaac is the only person in the building. 

Gavin follows Hank in but it’s almost immediately obvious that he won’t fight back. Connor and Nines follow them in. The humans break out the cuffs while the androids hang back, recording. 

When he realizes that Nines is here, Isaac turns his intense eyes over to him, the skin of his face deactivated below his jaw. 

“I see you’ve made a full recovery, RK900.” He says. His voice sounds like a thousand others, one of those first few generations that all had the same voice. He’s wearing a hoodie, cut off above the pocket, and black, ripped Jeans. He could be anyone. He was anyone. 

Nines doesn't respond, but Gavin tightens his hands on the cuffs. This close, he can see that Zlatko had made modifications to his jaw, changed out his eyes. His arms are replacements from construction androids - no sensors at all in the hands or forearms but strong as fuck. 

“No thanks to you,” Gavin growls. Hank gives him a hard look and they shuffle toward the door of the waiting car. Hank begins giving him his Miranda rights. Isaac laughs the whole way through them. 

“You’ll never solve it.” He gloats over Hank’s monotone voice and the clank of handcuffs.

Gavin doesn’t give him the satisfaction of saying that they already had. 

\--

(October 7)  
“NINES!” Gavin comes straight up out of his chair, crotch first and arcing to get his ass out of the mess as quickly as possible. “TINA.” His heart is beating a mile a minute. “CONNOR.” 

He twists desperately to get eyes on what he sat on. A cupcake. Perfect. He pulls it off and holds it in his hands, smushed. It smells so good. He hopes there are more. 

Tina rounds the corner, Nines and Connor following like ducklings behind her. There's a bag in her hand and he hopes it's pants. He shifts his weight to his left foot to brace for impact and feels the smeared frosting drying on the back of his pants.

“Happy Birthday, bitch!” Tina yells and throws her arms over his shoulders. The corner of the bag pokes into his spine. “I brought you new pants.” 

“I insisted on the replacement trousers,” Connor pipes up helpfully. “I knew you would not check your chair, but Tina said that was half the fun.” The twin looks on Nines’s and Connor’s face says that they agree with her. Tina lets him go and flops the bag in his hands. 

“So generous. So kind.” he says sarcastically to all of them. “Thank you.” a little too sincere, but they don't call him out on it.

“I have a present for you, Detective, when you have a minute after you’re changed?” Nines has the audacity to look nervous. 

“Sure,” Gavin says, nerves jacking up his guts. Tina kindly walks behind him to the bathroom. He takes a minute after he's changed, to look in the mirror and calm himself down. Nines got him a gift, it will be fine. They're friends. They’re dating. How awful could a birthday gift be? He walks back to his desk. 

Nines looks up at him, surprised for half a second, then his mouth curls in what on anyone else would be an ear to ear grin. 

He picks up a sheet of paper off his desk, an actual real life sheet of paper, and hands it to him. It’s folded in half and Gavin is careful to keep it closed until he has a good grip on it. 

“Should I open it here?” He’s not sure if this is meant to be a private gift, or not. Connor grins like a loon on the edges of his vision. Gavin prepares himself for a spider or something jumping out of the paper.

“Go ahead,” Nines says. He slides the edges apart and opens it carefully. On the top, in neat, CyberLife font, but obviously written in ballpoint pen, is “Nines.” 

“This just says ‘Nines.’”

“It does.” Nines confirms. He tilts his head forward, a marvel of nonverbal communication. 

Gavin waits a beat, then another. Surely this doesn’t… It isn’t… Nines isn’t giving himself to Gavin as a birthday present. That’d be stupid. And wishful thinking. 

“It’s just… your name?”

“That’s correct. I do not have a birth certificate as I was never technically born. You already know my serial and model numbers. Additionally, I have never had a registered owner, so registering my name with them is futile.” 

“But this is your name.” 

“That’s correct.” It takes a second and then --

“Did you change your name?” Is the precinct on fire? Did they engage the fire suppression system? It’s very hard to breathe all of a sudden. Connor breaks into delighted laughter at Gavin’s distress.

“I did.” Nines confirms. His face is amused, but otherwise calm. Affection colors his tone.

“Why?” 

“It suited me more than the one that Connor gave me prior to our acquaintance.” Gavin doesn’t have a response to that. “Happy Birthday, Detective Reed.”

"You just don't want me to know what Connor named you!" 

"Am I not allowed to have ulterior motives?" Nines says, irony dripping from his voice.

“It was spectacularly awful.” Connor agrees.

"Dick. " But he can hear how soft his tone is. He holds out his hands and Nines and Connor slip their hands into his. “Let's go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading! this was a _journey_ let me tell you. I've never written anything this long before? But it was really fun. Thanks to everyone who's left comments so far. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I will post more later this week. I'm hoping that I can finish the later parts soon so I can post the rest pretty quickly. I'm hoping that getting the first bit out there will kick me in the butt to finish. Not beta read, so any errors are my own. 
> 
> Kudos / comments greatly appreciated!


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